Fire Starter
by DiNutso-4-DiNozzo
Summary: "Theodora Felicity Kirk, at your service." She was the twin of James Tiberius Kirk, she was the brains behind the pairs most often times misadventures. She would do anything for her brother, following him to the ends of the universe. They would join Starfleet and take the Academy by storm, and if the ship that killed their father years before appears they would save the world.
1. Im a Fire Starter

**Hey guys I know I have other stories that really need to be updated and trust me I am working on it. But between life and my muse just blocking any ideas when it came to either Distance or Tom-Boy Rebel, I've been going nuts! After a long night of watching Star Trek and re-watching Sherlock-_again-_this idea came to mind and I figured I might as well do something while staring at a blank document. So here is my take on Star Trek with a OC of my creation.**

**Summary: "Theodora Felicity Kirk, at your service." She was the twin of James Tiberius Kirk, she was the brains behind the pairs most often times misadventures. She would do anything for her brother, following him to the ends of the universe. They would join Starfleet and take the Academy by storm, and if the ship that killed their father years before appears well time to drag everyone into the craziness that is the Kirk Twins.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for Theodora and some plot ideas. Everything else belongs to Gene Roddenberry and J.J Abrams. **

Fire Starter

_I'm a bad ass, jumping off the moving train_

_I'm a Jane Bond, putting all the guys to shame_

_I'm a wild card, and I'm gonna steal your game_

_You better watch out –Demi Lovato "Fire Starter"_

"All decks, this is the Captain speaking. Evacuate the ship immediately. Get to your designated shuttle craft and I repeat, evacuate immediately." George Kirk's voice sounded throughout the whole of the U.S.S Kelvin.

A blond woman was being rolled out of the Medical Bay in a wheelchair by a doctor and a nurse. Grasping tightly onto the arms of the chair as a contraction rolled through her, Winonna Kirk gasped, "That's George's voice. What's happening?" The expecting mother asked.

None of the medical professionals answered her, just continued wheeling her through the ship to the shuttle crafts. As they made their way down in to the shuttle area via a turbo lift, Winonna's communicator beeped. She flipped it open, simply replying, "George."

"You're ok, thank god." George said, sounding stressed but relieved, "I have medical shuttle 37 standing by. Get to it now, can you do that?" His question was aimed mostly at the medical professionals that were with his wife.

Winonna answered anyway, "Yes."

"Everything is going to be ok." George, always wanting to reassure her, the woman thought with fondness. He was always reassuring her, especially through her pregnancy. Finding out she was once again pregnant was not what she had planned. Sure she loved her first born George Samuel JR., but she was never very fond of kids. George on the other hand was an only child and always wanted to have more than one child so his kids wouldn't feel as lonely as George himself had felt growing up. Winonna was perfectly happy just having one child but a night of too many drinks led to her being pregnant with twins this time around. Winonna snapped out of her thoughts as George said, "Do as exactly as I say, shuttle 37."

Winonna winced, clutching onto her stomach as she said, "George. They're coming. The babies, they're coming now."

"I'm on my way," Winonna couldn't help the smile of relief that appeared. He was coming; he would be here to welcome their children into the world. They had made it to the shuttle, the medical personnel helping her out of the chair and onto a bio-bed. They helped her get situated, her hand grasping one of the nurses hand's when a painful contraction hit, a scream being torn harshly from her throat.

Winonna was urged to lay back and she did, pausing when she felt the shuttle preparing for lift off. "No! Wait, we can't go yet!" They couldn't leave without George. He needed to be here! "Please stop!"

She grasped her communicator, the only thing connecting her to her husband, "George! The shuttle's leaving. Where are you?"

"Sweetheart, listen to me," George said softly after a moment. "I'm not going to be there."

Horrified and in pain, she whispered, "No,"

"This is the only way you'll survive."

"You're still on the ship. You have to be here," Denial was starting to set in.

George fought down the urge to cry himself as he heard her shaky words, "The shuttles will never make it if I don't fight them off."

She sobbed, "George, I can't do this without you!" She couldn't, she knew she couldn't. She sucked when it came to kids. George JR hated her for the first few weeks after he was born, only happy when he was in his father's arms. George knew how to handle kids, hell kids loved him! Every time he was in range of them, kids seemed to flock to his side.

"Ok, I need you to push now," One of her doctors told her, crouched between her spread knees. Winonna obeyed on autopilot, a scream pulled from her. A few pushes later, one baby was out and being tended to by a nurse while Winonna pushed the next one out. Two minutes later (what felt like eternity to Winonna), her third child had finally arrived.

Inside the U.S.S. Kelvin, George Kirk smiled, tears filling his eyes, as he suddenly heard two sets of newborn cries.

Winonna stared in amazement as two nurses gently set her babies into her arms. She stared between the two, fighting down tears.

"What are they?" George asked. The two had wanted it to be a surprise on the gender for both of the babies.

Winonna looked to the baby on her left, shifting the blankets, "A boy," then turning to the baby on her right, "And a girl,"

"A boy and a girl? One of each," He said, a proud tone to his voice. "Tell me about them,"

"They're beautiful." She said tearfully, she couldn't find enough words to describe the two babies in her arms. "George you should be here,"

George blinked back the rush of tears, "What are we going to call them?"

Winonna had no idea, but she focused first on the first born of the two, her baby boy, and said, "We can name him after your father? And her after your mother,"

"Tiberius? You kidding me? No, that's the worse. Let's name him after your dad, let's call him Jim. Thea sounds perfect for her." George said, hating the thought of his son being named Tiberius but loving the thought of his daughter sharing his mother's beautiful name. He imagined his daughter would be beautiful just like his wife. God, he wished he was able to watch them grow up, to see his son become a man and fall in love…to make sure his daughter found the love of her life and threaten the man if he wasn't good enough.

"Jim and Thea, ok," Winonna agreed, finding herself staring into her daughter's fierce eyes. _Just like her father_, she thought at seeing the stubborn glint in the girl's eyes.

"Sweetheart, can you hear me?" George sounded slightly breathless…and afraid.

Winonna turned to glance at the communicator, "I can hear you!"

"I love you so much. I love you-," Suddenly he was cut off and then the line fizzled out. Winonna's eyes snapped to the windows of the shuttle and she caught sight of an explosion on the side of the ship that had attacked the U.S.S. Kelvin. She clutched the babies closer to her, sobs wracking her body. Her husband was dead. She was now a widow with three kids to rise on her own, she was all alone.

What was she going to do?

_**Iowa -11 Years Later**_

"SAMMY! PLEASE DON'T!" A little girl's voice cried from inside a farm house. Suddenly the front door swings open, a fourteen year old boy comes barreling out the door, a duffle bag slung around his shoulders and his face set in a furious frown. Following after him, first comes a little girl with blonde pigtails wearing a shirt that was twice her size and jeans that had numerous holes along each leg. Tears were brewing in big blue eyes as she followed what was clearly her older brother down the steps. Closely after her came an older male, tall and burly and with a furious scowl set into his features. His fists were clenched at his sides and his eyes were narrowed on the two children ahead of him.

And last came a boy the same age as the young girl, his hands wringing themselves in his shirt under his jacket. His pants also had holes everywhere down the length of his legs. He was nervously glancing between the other three, clearly afraid of what was going on.

The man, Frank, the three children's uncle snarled at the oldest, "Go ahead! Go, run away! You know I couldn't give a damn!"

Having finally caught up with her brother, the little girl-Thea-wrapped her arms around her brother's waist as she shouted hysterically, "NO!"

The younger boy, Jim, agreed with his twin as he said, "WAIT! NO! Where are you going?"

George JR, or Sam, glared at his uncle as he gently tried to get his younger sister to let him go as he answered his brother, "Anywhere but here, as far as I can get!"

Frank snorted, "Which wouldn't be far enough. Know what your problem is? No one ever taught you respect; how to follow orders, to do as you're told!"

"STOP! Leave him alone!" Thea yelled, still wrapped around her brother.

Frank ignored her, his usual reaction to the only girl and focused his attention on Jim, "What the hell are you doing?"

Jim shifted away from him nervously, moving closer to his siblings as he stuttered, "I-I just don't want my brother to go,"

Frank spit onto the ground, dangerously close to Thea and Sam, and responded, "Well I do! And I asked you to wash the car. How many damn times do I need to repeat myself? How many damn times? How many?!" With one last glare to all three of the Kirk siblings, he turned and stomped back into the house. Sam glared at his retreating back before making his way down the drive way, struggling against his sister.

Jim followed after the two, grasping something in his pants pocket and pulled it out to show his brother, "Please stay, you can have my Flo-Yo!"

Swatting the toy out of Jim's hand, Sam growled, "This isn't about toys, Jim! This is about Uncle Frank. I can't take him anymore, mom has no idea what he's like when she's not here!" He turned his attention to his sobbing sister and told her, "Thea, let me go," When she still didn't let up, he started to struggle a little harder as he told his brother, "Do you hear him talking like he's our dad?! And that's not even his car you're washing! That was Dad's car! You know why you're washing it? Because he's gonna sell it!"

"Don't leave, ok? We can tell mom when she comes back from Africa." Jim tried to stop his older brother from leaving. He and Thea needed him; he was the only one who cared about the two.

Sam shook his head, "She'll be gone for another five months. I'll be in another system by then." Jim finally stopped following him and Sam turned to look back at him. Jim was watching him with fearful eyes and Thea had stopped sobbing and was staring up at him in shock and what looked to be the start of betrayal.

A feeling of guilt started to build in Sam, maybe he shouldn't leave them. But he was fourteen, he couldn't take care of two eleven year olds who wanted his attention all of the time! He wanted to be able to be like any other normal teen boy-hang out with his friends and gain the courage to finally ask his crush on a date. He couldn't do that here in Iowa living with an uncle who didn't give a damn about them and only used them for the money their mother sent them for their care on booze, and with two twin prodigies who needed all of the attention. He just wanted to be a kid, was that so bad for him to want?

To swage his guilt, he tried to reassure the two, "You guys are going to be fine; you always are. Always doing everything right-good grades and following every ridiculous order. I can't be a Kirk in this house, show me how to do that and I'll stay."

Jim couldn't offer anything and Sam pulled him into a quick hug before focusing on the still clinging sister wrapped around his waist. He again tried to gently pry her off of him but she shook her head and just mumbled 'no' while tightening her arms.

A surge of anger went through him. Why did she always have to cling to him? Why couldn't she understand that he couldn't live here? He pushed at her shoulders and yelled, "THEA! GET OFF!" The girl stumbled back from the push, being caught by her twin, fresh tears filling her eyes as she watched Sam turn his back to the two and continue on his way. Jim wrapped his arms around his sister and led her to the garage where a vintage corvette sat.

Jim gently sat his sister down on a bucket and turned to start cleaning the car, vainly ignoring his sister's quiet sniffles. Suddenly he stops when he looked through the window and saw the keys sitting in the ignition. His brilliant, yet naïve mind, whirled with an idea. This car was one of the reasons his brother left him and Thea alone with their Uncle Frank. Maybe…

He moved to the driver's side, opening the door and pausing when he heard, "Jim?" He looked up at his sister, their blue eyes locking on each others. A reckless light was lighting up in the young Kirk's eyes, a look that would follow him into adulthood.

"Are you coming?" A challenge was in his voice as he stared at his sister. Thea was a tomboy, but a good girl always being sheltered by Sam, weather it being a drunken Frank in a rage or from bullies at school, Sam made sure the girl was protected-that the sweet innocence she carried was protected.

Before Jim's eyes, that innocence seemed to slowly melt away. Thea had lost her protector, and she had a gut feeling that he wasn't coming back and was coming to grips with that fact. She could only count on her brother to keep her safe, him and herself. Suddenly a steely looked appeared on her face, a look that would also follow her into adulthood. She nodded and moved to the passenger door and opened it, getting in with him.

A few moments later they were flying out of the garage and speeding down the road with dust trailing them from behind. They came up onto the main road and fish-tailed as Jim yanked the steering wheel to the right. They sailed down the country road, the speedometer steadily rising higher and higher. The two jump as the phone rings, Thea leaning forward to answer it.

"_Are you two out of your minds? That car's an antique! You think you can get away with this just because your mother's off planet? You two get your asses back home now! You live in my house, you snot nosed brats! You live in my house and that's my car! You get one scratch on that car and I'm going to whip you're as-,"_ Jim leaned over and ended the call, before turning on the radio. Then he reached up and unlatched the roof, Thea hurrying to do her side also. The roof flew off from the wind and tumbled to the ground behind them. The two looked at each other, slow grins making their way to their faces. Neither knew that their smiles would in the future be known as the Reckless Kirk smiles. The smile they would smile right before they were going to do something reckless…and most likely stupid.

The two laughed joyously, a yell coming from Jim as he pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. A few moments later they came upon Sam walking down the side of the road. Jim and Thea waved to him, before continuing on.

Sam watched after them, not knowing whether he should feel awe or concern at what the two were doing. Concern won out as a cop car sped past them, lights blaring as it barreled after the red corvette.

Back in the car, both Jim and Thea glance at each other when they hear the sirens coming upon them. Jim glanced in the rearview window while Thea turned to look behind them, her pigtails floating about. The cop comes up beside them and points at Jim saying, "Citizen, pull over."

Jim clenches his hands on the wheel and suddenly makes a sharp right turn, making Thea shriek gleefully as she was pushed into his side. The cop is still following them as they barrel through a gate and come upon a ravine. Thea gulps, tightly grasping her brothers jacket as Jim throws the gear shift into the next gear, making the car speed closer to the ravine even faster. Jim has the sudden idea to throw the car over the cliff, with him and Thea in the car. They wouldn't have to worry about the repercussions of their joy ride, or having to deal with living with Frank until they turned 18. They could be happy and worry less…they could be with their _father_.

"_Kirks don't give up,"_

A voice seemed to whisper to him through the wind. He frowned, but Sam had given up. He was a Kirk and he had given up being there for him and Thea. What was the difference?

"_There is no such thing as a no win scenario,"_ again the whisper came, this time with a note of desperation. This sentence made him think. Maybe he and Thea can come out of this stronger. The rose colored glasses were torn off after Sam leaving. Sure, Jim and Thea knew that everything was not all perfect. They knew that Frank shouldn't get so upset that he yelled and threw things, smelling horrible as he did so. They knew that it wasn't normal that they barely saw their mother and that their fourteen year older brother took care of them on most days. But it was all they had ever known since they could remember and it had become the norm for them. Maybe they could take Sam leaving as a lesson. A lesson on being careful who you trusted, to keep a mask up against those who could set out to hurt you.

Next to Jim, Thea's thoughts were going in the same direction, having also heard the voice. Though her thoughts took a different turn. Maybe the lesson on Sam leaving was to learn from other's weakness. Sam wasn't strong enough to stay and help them, Thea and Jim needed to be stronger…to be _fighters_.

The two shared a look before Jim faced forward and let out a refreshing scream into the air. Throwing the car into a lower gear and braking suddenly as he jerked the steering wheel to the side, one hand reaching out to grasp Thea's hand as he opened the car door and yanked himself and Thea out of the car. The two were weightless for a moment, the hands not clutching onto each other's reaching out for something to stop their falls. They caught the edge of the cliff, both letting the other's hand go as they tried to pull themselves back over the cliff.

Finally they managed it and they both looked up to see the cop dismounting his bike and looking at them. The two stood up, both looking at the wreck of a car at the bottom of the ravine before looking at the cop.

"Is there a problem officer?" Thea asked, breathlessly and a grin on her lips.

"Citizens, what are your names?"

A look was shared between the two twins, the two letting go of their naivety before Jim said in an almost arrogant tone, "My name is James Tiberius Kirk."

"Theodora Felicity Kirk, at your service," Thea said, faking a curtsy. Twin grins were on their faces; this would be the start of their long years of being partners in crime, hardly leaving each other's side in years to come.


	2. Make Your Blood Run Faster

_**11 Years Later**_

Music was blasting at a bar in the middle of the country. The bar was filled with people dressed in red outfits, cadets to Starfleet that were set to start their new semester the next day. The cadets did not know that sitting in the same bar were the famous Kirk twins. Handsome, James Kirk was sitting at the bar, scooping out the new opportunities that came with the cadets leaving for Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco from Iowa tomorrow. He was wearing a leather jacket, a t-shirt and faded jeans, his hair ruffled on top of his head. Once in awhile his eyes would travel to the dance floor not too far away, checking on his sister.

Theodora Kirk was beautiful with her blonde hair curled around her face. Wearing skinny jeans that hugged her just right, a loose off the shoulder black shirt with a black tank top underneath. Heels adorned her feet and didn't seem to hinder her in any way as she danced with a guy on the dance floor. Over the years the two had changed a lot from the two 11 year olds who were naïve and innocent to the world around them. Life had not been easy on them but the two had continued on leaning on each other in times of need.

Thea was having a good time, even debating on leaving with the guy grinding behind her, when she suddenly felt a shift. Her eyes automatically snapped to her brother to see that he was surrounded by four cadets. She watched for a moment, ready to step in if necessary. Her brother turned his back to the cadets, facing the bar, when one of the bigger cadets swung him around and punched him.

She instantly snapped into action, joining the fray right as her brother kicked the guy who punched him in the gut, sending him flying. As another went at her brother, she dodged a fist from one of the other cadets who figured out that she was going to help.

She pouted at the guy and said as she stayed just out of his reach, "What happened to chivalry?" The guy paused, clearly seeing that she was a girl and was second guessing himself. Taking his hesitation, she punched him hard with a right hook. His head snapped back before he made a move to grab her, she was prepared for him and again punched him. Another guy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms. She growled, seeing that the guy she had punched was now grinning at her, thinking he had the upper hand. He moved to hit her when she pushed off the floor, kicking her leg out and hitting the guy in the balls, sending him to the ground.

She then flung her head back and head butted the guy holding her, instantly crushing his nose in the process. He let her go and she swung around to punch him in the face, knocking him out cold as he fell to the ground. She turned to help her brother catching him being held down as the big guy from before started to continuously punch him. She moved to stop him when suddenly a sharp whistle was heard.

Everyone looked to the doorway where a man in a captain uniform stood. Thea tilted her head, recognizing him as being Christopher Pike. All of the cadets stood at attention as Pike said, "Outside. All of you, now!" Thea smirked at the two guy's asses she had kicked as they glowered at her and walked out the door, one of them limping. Thea made her way to her brother who was still lying on the table, listening to Pike ask her brother, "Are you ok, son?"

"You can whistle really loud, you know that?" Jim asked drunkenly. Thea rolled her eyes, reaching out and pulling her brother up by the lapels of his jacket. He groaned and gave her a 'pity me' look as he slung his arm around her shoulder to lean against her.

She smirked at him, "You don't look so hot, bro," The two didn't notice Pike looking between the two with knowing eyes. A few minutes later, the bar was cleared and the three were sitting at a table, Jim with tissues up his nose to stop the blood flow and Thea holding a bag of ice to her knuckles at her brother's insistence.

"You know, I couldn't believe it when the bartender told me who you two were," Pike said, looking between the two.

"Who are we, Captain Pike?" Jim asked as he took a drink. Apparently he wasn't as drunk as Thea thought he was if he was able to recognize the good captain.

Pike watched him for a moment before looking to Thea who was in turn watching him. "Your father's children."

Thea narrowed her eyes as Jim glanced behind him and asked, "Can I get another one?"

"Make that two," Thea threw over her shoulder.

Pike knew that they were trying to ignore him, but he wasn't going to be stopped, "For my dissertation I was assigned to the U.S.S Kelvin. Something I admired about your dad, he didn't believe in no-win scenarios."

There it was the family motto as Thea and Jim liked to think of it as ever since they were eleven. Jim's eyes narrowed just a bit while Thea kept a blank face (She was the tactical of the two after all) and scoffed at Pike, "Sure learned his lesson."

"Well depends on how you define winning, you two are here aren't you?" Pike said in return, holding her eyes steadily. Thea didn't respond just taking the drink that the bartender had delivered to her and Jim, downing half of it in one gulp. Pike continued, "Though that instinct to leap without looking is natured too, and in my opinion what Starfleet has lost."

Jim chuckled, "Why are you talking to us, man?"

"Cuz I looked up both of your files while you were drooling on the floor." Pike responded. "Both of your aptitude tests are off the charts. So what is it? You two like being the only genius level repeated offender in the Midwest?"

"Maybe I love it," Jim quipped.

Pike raised an eyebrow giving a look to Thea and asking, "And you?"

No she didn't, but she wasn't going to leave her brother. So instead she said, "It has its perks,"

He wasn't buying it, she could tell as Pike gave her a narrowed eye look before saying, "Look, so your dad dies. You think you can settle for a less than ordinary life? Or do you feel like you were meant for something better? Something special? Enlist in Starfleet,"

Both Thea and Jim let out surprised laughter. "Enlist?" Jim asked.

"You guys must be way down on your recruiting quota for the month," Thea said sardonically.

Pike first focused on Jim, "Look, if you are half the man that your father was, Jim, Starfleet could use you," Then looking to Thea he said, "If you have half of the determination and stubbornness that your father had, Thea, you could be amazing. The two of you could be officers in four years. You could have your own ship in eight. You understand what the federation is, don't you? It's important; it's a peace keeping and humanitarian armada-,"

Jim cut in and said, "Are we done?"

"I'm done," Pike said after a moment. Thea was looking away from the table, not wanting them to see that Pike's words were bouncing around in her head. Pike looked at the two, "Riverside Shipyard, shuttle for new recruits leaves tomorrow, 0800."

Jim just saluted him while Thea made an uninterested noise. Pike smirked, "Your father was a captain of a starship for 12 minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mothers and both of yours. I dare you to do better," Pike then walked out the door.

Thea stared at the door for a moment before huffing and saying, "Oh, I hate him." She knew that she and Jim were going to be at the shipyard tomorrow. Pike had said the magical words and the two were now going to have to show that they were better just to prove a point.

Jim nodded in agreement, idly playing with the small space ship shaped salt shaker.

That next morning they were indeed there. They arrived at the shuttle right before they were preparing to leave, Pike standing outside giving them a knowing smirk. They got off Jim's bike, Jim handing the keys off to one of the workers as they moved to Pike.

Jim smirked in return, "Four years? I'll do it in three,"

To outmatch him, since the two made a bet, Thea said with a grin, "I'll do it in two," Pike shook his head at the two as they made their way into the shuttle. Jim looked around the shuttle gleefully, not watching where he was going as he hit one of the bars that said low clearance. Thea laughed at him as she moved around him, ducking under the beam and looking for a seat. She gave a wink to the two guys she had fought last night, the two were staring at her and her brother gob smacked. Thea led her brother to a place to sit where there were three more seats left. She took the middle one and Jim took the one to her right.

They started to buckle in, Thea looking up when she heard her brother chuckle. She raised an eyebrow as he said to an African-American woman sitting diagonally from them, "I never did get that first name,"

The girl shook her head before looking to Thea and asking, "You know him?"

Thea snorted, "Unfortunately. He's my brother. My names Thea," The girl nodded giving her a pitying smile before they all looked when they heard a voice say, "You need a doctor,"

"I told you, I don't need a doctor. I am a doctor," A short woman was pulling a man out of the bathroom and toward the seats as she told him, "You need to get back to your seat,"

"I had one," The man replied. Thea looked him over finding him to be handsome even though he was disheveled. "I had one, in the bathroom, with no windows." The man was telling the short officer.

The man then went on to tell the officer that he was afraid of something that flies, she seemed to be done with him as she ordered him to sit down. The man scowled at her before sitting down to the left of Thea.

He started to buckle himself in, Thea getting a strong whiff of alcohol on him as he turned to her, giving her a once over and saying, "I may throw up on you,"

She gave him a look, "I may punch you in return," The man gave a small smirk at her response before looking at Jim as her brother said; "I think these things are pretty safe."

"Don't pander to me, kid, when one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flares might crop up, cook us in our seats and while you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." The man ranted.

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine," Thea mumbled sarcastically.

"I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space," Jim told the man.

The man took out a flask, "Yea well got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones," He then took a drink from the flask before glancing at the two Kirk siblings who were staring at him in disbelief. He then offered the flask to Thea, who took it and took a long swing of what she could taste as bourbon. The man gave her an impressed look as she handed it to her brother who also took a drink.

Thea gave the man a look and said, "Thea Kirk."

Jim handed back the flask and also greeted, "Jim Kirk,"

"You two siblings?" At their nods, the man introduced, "McCoy, Leonard McCoy."

_**San Francisco- Three Years Later**_

"If it isn't my favorite sister," Thea heard as she walked up the steps to the main library. She was looking through some of her notes, since she had a final she had to take. She was almost done with her classes and would meet the bet her and Jim had set, her taking two years and him taking three. She was all finished, she just had one class left and she would be $300 dollars richer by the end of the week.

She continued up the steps, not even looking up at her brother as she simply said, "No,"

"Oh, come on! You don't even know what I was going to say." The protest came in a whining tone.

"I am not going to be there as you fail the Kobayashi Maru for the third time," She replied, she only paused when Jim grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him and Leonard.

Jim gave her a puppy dog stare, "Please, I need the best tactical officer in there with me and that's you!"

She huffed, sharing a look with Leonard who was scowling at Jim. Suddenly a devious look appeared on her face as she asked, "What's in it for me?"

Jim paused, looking her over cautiously. He knew when she had that look on her face, he was either going to be broke or humiliated. He debated for a moment then said, "What do you want?"

She smirked, "I haven't decided yet. But I'll let you know, and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

Jim nodded, giving a grin and said in departure to the two, "I got to study," He patted Leonard on the arm and kissed Thea on the cheek before strutting off.

"Studying my ass," Leonard mumbled. Thea grinned at him, looping her arm through his and said, "Why, Leo, you never told me you were willing to study your ass. Need any help?"

When three years ago, her saying something like that would leave him stuttering and blushing (before the two became, for lack of a better term, fuck buddies), now he grinned down at her and said, "Darlin' I will take any help you were willin' to give,"

She smiled at him, laughing softly, as he led her farther into the quad.

The next day it was time for Jim's test.

"We are receiving a distress signal from the U.S.S Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them," Uhara said in a mockingly sweet tone to Jim.

"Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, _Captain_," Jim corrected her as he swung the captain's chair back to face the front, missing Uhara's glare at his back.

Leonard rolled his eyes, giving a look to Thea who sat next to him. She was watching her brother with a calculating look, watching as he messed around with an apple in his hand. She could tell he was anxious; he played with food when he was as he needed to something to keep his hands idle.

"Two Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone. They're locking weapons on us," Leonard reported, taping at the screens in front of him.

Jim smiled, confidant. "That's ok,"

"That's ok?" Leonard asked, turning to look at him along with Thea.

"Yea, don't worry about it," Came the calm response.

"Three more Klingon War Birds de-cloaking and targeting our ship. I don't suppose this is a problem either?" Leonard asked sarcastically.

Thea smirked as she taped away on the screens in front of her, before saying, "They're firing, _Captain_," the last word was laced with heavy sarcasm.

"Alert Medical Bay to receive all crew members from the damaged ship," Jim ordered.

Uhara turned to face him, "And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingon's, _Captain_?" Thea gave her a glare over her shoulder. Only she was allowed to be sarcastic to her brother. The two women had gotten along for the first five minutes of meeting but became enemies when Thea was put ahead of all of the other cadets after she had taken the placement exam.

Jim turned and smiled sweetly, "Alert medical," Uhara scowled and turned to follow orders.

"Our ship is being hit," Leonard said. "Shields at sixty percent."

"I understand," Jim said simply.

Thea frowned at her brother, "Shouldn't we, I don't know, fire back?" Her eyes narrowed when Jim took a big bite out of the apple in his hand.

"No," He told her.

"Of course not," Leonard growled. Suddenly the screens flickered before turning off completely. A few seconds later they flickered back on, Thea frowning at the screens in front of her.

"Hmm, arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon War Birds." Jim ordered, a smirk fighting to spread across his face.

Thea, seeing the changes on her screens, said with a sigh, "Yes sir,"

"Jim, they're shields are still up," Leonard told his friend.

Taking another bite out of his apple, "Are they?" Jim asked in return.

Leonard looked back and frowned, "No, they're not."

"Fire on all enemy ships," Jim ordered Thea. "One photon each should do it, no need to waste ammunition."

Shaking her head, Thea put the commands into the system, "Target locked and acquired on all War Birds. Firing,"

Everyone looked at the main view screen and watched as the photons launched and hit each Klingon vessel, destroying them instantly. "All ships destroyed, Captain," Thea reported. She looked over to Leonard, giving him a look that told him all he needed to know. Jim had somehow hacked the system and cheated.

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew," Jim said, standing up as he continued, "So, we've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one on board was injured, and the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is underway," He then took another large bit of the apple.

Later, as they all made their way to the auditorium for a sudden assembly, Thea saddled up to her brother, hitting him on the back of the head as they walked into the auditorium. "I can't believe you, are you crazy?"

He simply gave her a look, "Please, like it doesn't bother you that no one has passed that test."

"It's not meant to be passed. It's supposed to help you know how you would react under pressure and an unbeatable outcome. An outcome that has no other way out,"

"No such thing-,"

Thea cut him off, "As a no win scenario. I know, Jim. But that's our motto, not Starfleet's."

"Well maybe it should be," He then continued on, leaving her shaking her head at him. Leonard came up to her, pressing a hand to the small of her back to lead her toward where her brother had sat. Once everyone had taken a seat, the Admiral's had come in and taken their seats next.

The Academy President is the first to speak, "This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. James T. Kirk, step forward." Thea's head snaps to her brother sitting next to her. He gulps and stands, glancing at her concerned face before heading down to stand at one of the podiums in the front.

"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet Code." The president stated. "Is there anything you would care to say before we begin, sir?"

Jim's mind was clearly whirling as he paused then said, "Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly," Everyone looked as a Vulcan stood up, straightening his shirt, before going to the other podium.

"This is Commander Spock. He is one of our distinguished graduates," The president remarked. Thea cursed lowly, the man was a Vulcan and would run circles around her brother with all the logic that he would use. "He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years. Commander,"

"Cadet Kirk," Commander Spock started, "You somehow managed to install and activate a sub-routine in the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."

"Your point being?" Jim asked dismissively.

"In academic vernacular: you cheated." The president said sternly. Thea shook her head, leaning over to whisper to Leonard, "He's so screwed, they're not going to listen to anything he says after they said he cheated," Leonard just squeezed her leg in a way to reassure her, both looking to the front as Jim started up his defense.

"Let me ask you something, I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? I mean you programmed it to be un-winnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no win scenario," Spock responded.

Jim smiled charmingly at the Academy board, "I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Then not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principal lesson,"

God, he swore if the next words out of the Vulcan's mouth were word-for-word what his sister said, he was never going to live it down. "Please, enlighten me,"

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk," Thea tensed, hoping the Vulcan wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say. "A captain cannot cheat death," A rumble went throughout the room. Thea clenched her hands around her armrests, Leonard's hand coming up to envelope hers.

Jim looked down for a moment before saying, "I of all people?"

"Your father. Lieutenant George Kirk assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?"

Jim automatically tried to deflect, something ingrained into the Kirk twins since before they could remember, "I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test."

"Further more you have failed to divine the purpose of the test,"

"Enlighten me again,"

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear and maintain control of one's self and ones crew, this is a quality expected in every Starfleet Captain." Jim shifted, glancing behind him at his sister and Bones. Like Jim expected, Thea was staring hard at the Vulcan, clearly fighting the urge to jump up and attack. Feeling his glance, she looked at him and as their eyes connected she raised a questioning eyebrow.

He sighed and gave a small shake of his head to her silent offer of help. He didn't want to drag her down with him; he knew how much she enjoyed being here at the Academy. How excited she was to soon be in space and exploring freely.

Spock noticed the exchange between Cadet Kirk and the blonde with bright blue eyes. He found himself mildly curious as to what the two were silently communicating to the other. The two were an odd match. Cadet Kirk being arrogant and brash, while the blonde kept a continuous neutral expression, the only sign of any emotions was by the tightening of her jaw, the skin tensing at the corner of her eyes, and her hands tightly grasping her armrests.

The silence in the room was ended when a cadet said, having silently come into the room a few moments before, to the Academy President, "Excuse me, sir." The man simply handed the Admiral a PADD. The man silently reads it as the room is once again filled with murmuring voices.

The president looks up, his face concerned as he says, "We've received a distress call from Vulcan,"

Thea glanced to Spock and thought she caught the slightest hint of fear and concern, but a moment later the Vulcan's face was as blank as ever. She focused back on the President as he continued, "With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hanger 1 immediately. Dismissed,"

Everyone stood up and started to leave, Thea and Bones heading down to Jim, all three watching the Vulcan leave without looking back. Bones gave Jim a pat on the back in a semblance of reassurance as Jim said, "Who was that pointy-eared bastard?"

"Clearly a Vulcan who likes to play dirty," Thea responded, sounding almost admired.

Jim gave her a narrowed-eyed look as Bones broke in what looked to be a heated argument between the siblings with a teasing comment, "I don't know. But I like him," Jim turned his look onto his best friend as said best friend led Thea out of the room with Jim following sullenly.

A few moments later, after splitting with Bones and Jim, Thea found herself in formation with her best friend Gaila to her right and behind her friend was Uhara. Although her brother had a fling with Gaila, Thea found the girl to be a perfect match to Thea's sometimes silent, brooding moods. They were roommates their first year and became fast friends, constantly helping each other whether it was academia or relationship related.

Thea listened for her name carefully, standing up taller when she heard, "Kirk, Theodora-USS Enterprise." Thea fought a gasp, feeling Gaila reach over and squeeze her hand in excitement. The Orion knew that Thea had her hopes set on becoming the Chief Tactical Officer on the fleet's finest starship-The Enterprise. And it looked like her dreams were starting to come true, she was having her first mission in space on the ship she and Jim used to go and watch be built at the Riverside Shipyard.

Thea tuned back in when she heard the Lieutenant that was handing out assignments say, "Go to your stations and good luck," Gaila turned to Thea, hugging her tightly and squealing, "Congratulations! Remember, relax and don't be so Ice Queen! You'll be great!"

Thea laughed softly, "I am not an Ice Queen! People just get insulted easily, good luck. And be careful," The two pulled apart, giving each other wide smiles before turning to head in opposite directions toward their assigned space shuttle.

Gaila paused though when she caught sight of Uhara glaring after the blonde, jealousy burning in her eyes. Uhara was always so put out at how easy Thea seemed to go through every task set before her. Getting perfect grades, charming her teachers, hell-the girl was going to be the first to go through the academy in two years!-Theodora Kirk was perfect in everything except when it came to relationships it seems. She wasn't as bad as her brother where he slept with anything that had boobs and a pulse, rumors around the school was that while she didn't have one night stands, she was very picky on who she dated. Almost prudish were some of the worst rumors, that and a slut when it came to being in the sack.

Gaila shook off her thoughts, giving Uhara a small smile when the African-American woman looked to her. Uhara just frowned and turned, stomping off somewhere. The Orion woman sighed, continuing on her way to her shuttle, thinking that when they all got back she was so going to lock Uhara and Thea in a closet together. Hopefully the two would come out friends and not kill each other.


	3. I Melt Hearts Like Water

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the long delay...work has been hectic and I have been too tired to update. I'm happy that you guys love the story so far and thank you so much to those who follow/favorite and/or left a review! You all are beyond awesome! So here's the next chapter! Let me know how you guys like it!**

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Thea looked up startled when Leo suddenly dropped her brother into a seat near her, Jim looking pale. Leo sat down, seeing her and giving her one of his charming grins, "Hey darlin'. Seems we're going to be serving on the Enterprise together,"

"Seems so," Thea said slowly, looking to her brother before daring to ask, "Leo, why does Jim look as though he's going to pass out?"

"Oh don't worry about him. He'll be fine; I thought it was only right that the Kirk twins go into space together." Leo was cut off from having to answer any other questions when the shuttle started to take off. Soon they were flying up out of the Earth's atmosphere and toward where all of the Starship's were docked.

Thea looked outside her window, her breathe catching when she saw the Enterprise. Her hand automatically reached over and found her brothers clenched one and said, not taking her eyes off of the Enterprise, "Jimmy,"

Where before, Bones had unsuccessfully captured Jim's attention to what was outside, Thea's astonished voice whispering his nickname from their childhood pulled his attention to the magnificent ship they were flying towards. "Wow," was all Jim could say in amazement.

After finally arriving, Thea helped Leo with her brother out of the shuttle.

"Go, Thea. You need to get to your station, I've got him." Leo told her, taking more of her brother's weight from her.

"Are you sure?" She was concerned for her brother who was visibly sweating now.

Leo gave her a smile, "Yes, now go." She gave him a smile in return and squeezed her brother's hand in farewell before turning and leaving. She was stopped a few minutes later by a voice, "Cadet Kirk,"

She turned and saw Commander Spock heading toward her. Though she was still pissed at what the man had said in her brother's hearing, she automatically stood at attention and said, "Sir?"

"Your assignment has been changed. Captain Pike would like for you to take over Lieutenant Commander Prichard on the bridge." The Vulcan told her with curiosity nagging at his mind. This woman must be an exceptional tactical cadet if she was filling in for the Lieutenant Commander.

Thea fought down the urge to squeal and jump up and down-She was going to be on the _bridge_-, just nodding once in acknowledgement before silently following after Spock. They entered the lift together, sitting in silence before Spock found it in himself to ask, "If I may ask Cadet, but this is your first mission, is it not?"

"Yes, sir, it is." Thea replied back, looking up to meet his eyes unflinchingly. One of Spock's already slightly raised eye brows lifted higher in what Thea could see was thinly veiled curiosity. The cadet felt she had to explain why she was taking over when she was clearly still in training. "This is actually my last year in the academy. My time was shortened and instead of the normal four or three years, I'm fortunate enough to be completing my training in two."

Spock watched her for a moment before simply stating, "Fascinating," As the lift stopped at the bridge level, the doors sliding open. Spock started to lead her out of the lift, pausing to turn to her. He again stared at her with deep chocolate eyes, then said, "I wish to express that this mission brings you favorable circumstances for you later on in your career. Or in human vernacular: good luck."

"Though I've heard Vulcan's do not agree with the concept of 'luck', I thank you for your well wishes and would like to return some of my own. Good luck, Commander." Thea said softly but with strength. She stared him in the eye as she saluted him before moving to her station right behind the Captain's char. She could feel Spock's eyes on her before he too moved to his station as Science Officer. Thea took a breath as she tapped on her screens, making sure everything was ready.

"Kirk," She turned at the soft greeting and saw Pike watching her with a proud glint in his eye. He moved closer so the two could have a small chance of privacy as he told her, "I'm sure you're wondering why I have you up here."

"There was some curiosity, Captain." She replied wryly.

He smirked, "Lieutenant Commander Prichard was needed to assist the other tactical officers and he recommended you to take over for him. Having seen your progress for myself, I agree with him completely. Out of all of the tactical cadets, you have the highest marks in all of your training, which means you should do fine, so take a breath and relax Thea." The last part was said with a wink.

Thea felt herself smile back at him as he continued onto his chair. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our newest flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance than we can afford today. The Christening will just be our reward for a safe return. Carry on," He sat down, tapping on the com on his chair to say, "All decks, this is the Captain, prepare for departure. Helm, thrusters,"

"Mooring's retracted, Captain, dock controls reports ready. Thrusters fired, separating from space dock." Thea couldn't fight a small smirk at seeing Hikaru Sulu sitting at the helm. The two had dated briefly, breaking up because the two agreed that they were better off as friends despite their friend's venomous protests against the idea. To their friends they were the perfect couple, and though they did at one point have attraction for each other and they got along great for the most part, the two just couldn't see the relationship going any farther.

Thea's attention was diverted when she could feel the Enterprise moving away from the dock. They were on their way!

"The fleet's cleared space dock, Captain. All ships ready for warp," Sulu continued, tapping at some of the screens in front of him. Pike slowly spun around in his chair, making sure everyone was ready and prepared for anything that might crop up.

"Set course for Vulcan," Pike ordered as he finished his circle.

"Aye, aye Captain. Course laid in," Sulu turned to look at the captain.

Pike started to smile, "Maximum warp. Punch it," Thea took a deep breath, waiting anxiously as Sulu took control and started the thrusters. On the view screen all of the other ships started off, speeding into space at maximum warp and heading for Vulcan. Thea glanced down at her screens to see if anything was wrong with the ship since they were not following the rest of the fleet into warp.

"Lieutenant, where's Helmsman McKenna?" Pike asked with a raised eyebrow.

As Sulu answered, Thea tapped at her screens, trying to figure out what had happened. "He has long worm, sir. He couldn't report to his post. I'm Hikaru Sulu,"

"And you are a pilot right?"

"Very much so, sir. I'm not sure what's wrong here-,"

After glancing at Spock, Pike looked to Sulu and asked wryly, "Is the parking brake on?"

Sulu chuckled nervously, "Uh, no. I'll figure it out, I'm just…"

Figuring out what was wrong, and rolling her eyes mentally at Sulu-_she had told him numerous times to always remember to_-"Disengage the external inertial dampener, Mr. Sulu?" She asked, smirking when he glanced at her and gave her a sheepish smile.

He put in a few commands on the screens in front of him and said a moment later, "Ready for warp sir."

Pike turned to give Thea a raised eyebrow before telling Sulu, "Let's punch it." This time when Sulu pushed down on the lever, the Enterprise went into warp.

When they were in warp, Sulu turned to look at Pike and said, "Engines at maximum warp, sir."

Pike nodded then said to the man to Sulu's right, "Russian whiz kid, what's your name? Cheikov? Chirpov?"

"Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andrejevic sir." The man, who looked more like a teenager now that Thea could see his face, said brightly.

"Fine. Chekov, Pavel Andrejevic begin ship-wide mission broadcast." Thea watched as the young ensign have some trouble with the computer before he started to give everyone the information about what happened at Vulcan.

"May I have your attention please? At 22:00 hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in the neutral zone, what appeared to be a lightning storm in space. Soon after, Starfleet received a distress signal from the Vulcan high command that their planet was experiencing seismic activity. Our mission is to assess the condition of Vulcan and assist in evacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Vulcan within 3 minutes. Thank you for your time."

Thea froze, _lightning storm_. It couldn't be…right? There were no other facts to back up her thoughts though. Lightning storms happened very rarely; it didn't automatically mean that this time was the same as what happened 25 years ago.

"Ms. Kirk?" Thea looked up from staring sightlessly at her screen, her mind moving with calculations. Pike was giving her a curious look, knowing that her mind was working furiously.

She paused; did it really need to be brought up? "It's uh…"

Seeing her hesitation, noting that Spock was also looking at the Kirk woman, Pike prompted, "If you have an idea about something, I would very much like to hear it, Cadet Kirk."

"It's just, lightning storm. The last known report of one was well 25 years ago, the day I was born in fact. It just seems oddly coincidental, Captain." Thea told him, seeing in the corner of her eye everyone on the bridge stare at her when she brought up her birth.

Pike gave her a searching look, "Is there anything else besides the lightning storm that would give you cause to believe that this situation is the same as before?"

"No, sir. Just an odd feeling. It's probably just nerves," She said with a polite smile.

As Pike gave her one last look, the doors opened to allow Jim, Leonard and Uhara onto the bridge.

"Captain! Captain Pike, sir! We have to stop the ship!" Jim yelled as he stopped just feet from the captain's chair. Pike stood up with a frown, "Kirk, how the hell did you get aboard the Enterprise?"

Thea moved from her station as Leo said to Pike, "Captain, this man is under the influence of a severe reaction to a vaccine."

"Bones, please!" Jim cut Bones off.

"He's completely delusional and I take full responsibility." Bones retorted, speaking over Jim.

"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster! It's being attacked by Romulans." Jim said, staring straight at Thea who gave him a frown.

"Romulans? Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day." Pike said with a severe frown, watching as Jim's eyes snapped back to his from where they must have been looking at his sister. "McCoy, take him back to medical. We'll have words later."

Bones reached out to stop Jim from moving forward as he answered the captain, "Aye, captain."

"Sir, that same anomaly-," Jim started as Spock moved closer and interrupted the Kirk.

"Mr. Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel, Captain." Thea didn't seem to notice as she moved closer herself, whether to help her brother or stop him was anyone's guess.

"Look, I get it; you're a great arguer, love to do it again with you soon." Jim snapped at the Vulcan.

Spock ignored him and continued, "I can remove the cadet-,"

"TRY IT!" Jim yelled. "This cadet is trying to save the bridge,"

"By recommending a full stop mid-warp on a rescue mission?"

Jim just gave him a look before ignoring him entirely. "It's not a rescue mission. Listen to me, it's an attack."

"Based on what facts?"

"That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space?" Jim started, looking at Spock. "That we saw today also occurred on the day of my birth."

Pike cut in to say, glancing at Thea, "So your sister also noted, Cadet." Jim paused, looking to his sister, and keeping his eyes locked on her he continued to tell Spock, "Before a Romulan ship attacked the U.S.S Kelvin. You know that sir," Jim now looked to Pike, "Thea and I read your dissertation. That ship, which had formidable and advanced weaponry was never seen or heard from again. The Kelvin was attacked on a place at the edge of Klingon space. And at 2300 last night there was an attack; 47 Klingon war birds destroyed by Romulans, sir. And it was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

"And you know of this Klingon attack how?" Pike queried. Everyone watched as Jim looked over to where Uhara was, following his look.

After a moment Uhara started with clear reluctance, "Sir, I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate."

"We're warping into a trap sir, the Romulans are waiting for us I promise you that." Jim told Pike.

Pike glanced to Spock who responded, "The Cadet's logic is sound. And Lieutenant Uhara is unmatched in xenolinguistics; we would be wise to accept her conclusion."

The captain looked to Communication's officer, "Scan Vulcan space; check for any transmissions in Romulan."

"Sir, I'm not sure if I can distinguish the Romulan language from Romulan." The officer responded, semi-sheepishly.

"How about you? You speak Romulan, Cadet…" Pike asked, trailing off.

"Uhara. All three dialects sir."

"Uhara, relieve the lieutenant," Uhara silently gasped before nodding and moving to do as ordered. Pike turned and ordered another ensign, "Hannity, hail the U.S.S Truman."

"The other ships are out of warp and have arrived at Vulcan sir. But we seem to have lost all contact."

Uhara suddenly spoke up, "Sir, I pick up no Romulan transmission or transmission of any kind in the area." Thea closed her eyes in resignation- _that could only mean_…

"Because they're being attacked." Jim said, completing his sister's thought.

Pike walked over to his chair, looking to Thea, "Shields up. Ready all weapons. Red alert," Thea nodded once, moving back to her station and tapping at the screens with precision. Leo moved over to her, not having been told he had to leave and wanted to be around his friends at this moment to offer some comfort. If what Jim was implying had any truth, they were coming up blind against the same ship that attacked 25 years prior.

"Arrival in Vulcan in five seconds," Sulu reported before he started to count down, "four, three, two, one…"

Suddenly the view screen was filled with ships blown apart around them. Pike shouted, "Emergency evasive maneuvers."

"Running sir," Sulu acknowledged. Sulu expertly moves the Enterprise around parts of what was once a spaceship. Everyone inside is thrown slightly by the move, Leo moving forward to grasp onto the bars in front of Thea's station, his arms coming around either side of her to also keep her steady as she tried her hardest to keep focus on her screens that were keeping her informed of the ships shields.

"Damage report!" Pike ordered, keeping his eyes on the view screen.

"Deflector shields are holding," Thea announced quickly, feeling Leo knock into her back and causing her to be pushed forward into her screens with a grunt. She felt his breath at her neck as he told her, "sorry darlin'."

As she was preparing a witty remark, she gasped when she looked up and caught sight of a huge spider like ship on the view screen.

"Captain, they're locking torpedoes," Spock announced.

"Divert auxiliary power from port nossel to forward shields." Thea did so immediately. A moment later the ship shook as they were hit.

"Ms. Kirk, status report."

Thea clenched her teeth from the pain of hitting her console and replied, "Shields at 32%. Their weapons are powerful sir. I would recommend not taking another hit like that again anytime soon." The last part was said with barely controlled sarcasm.

Pike fought a smirk, leave it to Theodora Kirk to be sarcastic in a situation like this, "Noted. Uhara, get me Starfleet command."

As Uhara moved to do so, she stopped when Spock said, "Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities."

"All power to forward shields, prepare to fire all weapons."

"Weapons ready," Thea said right after Pike finished his order, having already started the process when she heard what Spock had said.

"Captain, we're being hailed," Uhara said, standing up to see the view screen better as a moment later a man of Romulan origin appeared on the screen. Thea straightened, moving away from her station with Leonard following her worriedly. She stood next to her brother as they both stared at the man who killed their father.

"Hello," The Romulan said.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?" Pike demanded.

The Romulan gave a nod, "Hi Christopher, I'm Nero."

_Nero_

_Nero_

_Nero_

The name echoed in both Jim and Thea's heads. This man, _Nero_, was the reason they were father-less, was most likely the reason they had such a horrible childhood. Thea fought the urge to growl at the-she wouldn't consider him a man-_monster_.

"You've declared war against the federation, withdraw and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location." Pike stated tersely.

Nero cut in, "I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member, isn't that right Spock?" Said Vulcan stood up from his station and moved forward to stand next to Thea.

"Pardon me, but I don't believe you and I are acquainted." Both Spock and Thea noticed Nero look at Thea and a sinister grin spread across his face at seeing her.

"No we're not," Nero answered, glancing between Thea and Spock. "Not yet. Spock, there is something I would like you and your beloved _t'hy'la,_ Theodora to see." Thea glanced to Spock, having no idea what the word that the Romulan snarled out viciously meant. She figured it was Vulcan, but she hadn't moved very far through her self-learning of the language. Though there were words that were kept in secret as only Vulcan's were allowed to speak of them, part of the Vulcan culture.

Spock seemed more stiff then normal and was staring at the view screen with intensity. Thea had no idea that the Vulcan was having what humans called a panic attack in his head. Every Vulcan secretly wished to find their t'hy'la, to find such person was considered the utmost honor, but Spock didn't think it was possible to find his in one Theodora Kirk.

Uhara clenched her fists; she knew what that word meant. After using any means necessary to learn everything about Vulcan's, she had found an old scribe that listed every word in the Vulcan language that was considered to be seen and uttered by Vulcan's only. And one of those words was t'hy'la: having various meaning but mostly only said to those that a Vulcan considered to be a friend, lifelong companion, lover, or soul mate. Mostly it was used for the latter two but Vulcan's could use all four for one person. Kirk could not take this from her; she was finally breaking down Spock's walls after it took a year to get past his blank mask. Kirk would not take Spock away just because some Romulan said she was his t'hy'la.

Nero cut into everyone's thoughts by saying to Pike, "Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle, come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all." The man closed off the connection to a tense silence on the bridge of the Enterprise. They all watched Pike for a moment before he stood up with determination lining his face.

"Captain," Thea started, reaching a hand out to him.

"He'll kill you, you know that," Jim told the man.

Spock seemed to agree with both of the Kirk twins, "Your survival is unlikely."

"We gain nothing by diplomacy." Thea cut in, stepping in front of Spock, "Going over there to that ship is a mistake."

Spock looked at Pike from behind the woman, "I too agree. You should rethink your strategy."

"I understand that." Pike said, looking between the two. "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat."

Sulu raised his hand, "I have training sir,"

"Come with me," Pike ordered. "Kirk you too, you're not supposed to be here anyway."

Thea moved to follow to help, also having advanced hand-to-hand combat training. She was stopped when Pike turned to her and said, "Ms. Kirk, you have the com."

She glanced to Jim who gave her a small nod to show he would be alright on his own, and then she said, "Aye, Captain." As the others left, everyone still on the bridge watched as Thea glanced at the Captain's chair then moved to stand to the side of it, clearly not moving to take the seat. A few moments later, Spock returned alone and headed for the Captains chair. He gave a nod to Thea who was still standing next to the chair and sat down. Once he was seated Thea moved back to her station, bringing up her brother's stats on one of her screens.

"Doctor Puri, report." Spock said into the com on the chair.

Thea looked up when she heard Leo say, "It's McCoy. Doctor Puri was on deck 6, he's dead."

"Then you have just inherited his responsibility as Chief Medical Officer." Spock said in return.

"Yea, tell me something I don't know," Thea bit her lip at Leo's response. Once a report came in that the ship holding their captain and three of their crew had left the Enterprise, everyone sat in tense silent until Chekov said, "Away team is entering the atmosphere. 20,000 meters."

Thea kept her eyes on her brother's stats as she heard Chekov say, "Approaching the platform at 5,800 meters."

Everyone's heads snapped up to the view screen when they heard Jim say, "Kirk to Enterprise. Distance to target, 5,000 meters."

"4,600 meters from the platform,"

Sulu then reported, "4,000 meters to target."

Olson was heard next, "3,000 meters."

"2,000 meters, pull the chute." Sulu said, a second later the screen indicated that his suit had deployed. Thea gave a small sigh of relief when her brother's followed shortly after.

Olson was the only one left that hadn't. Thea shook her head when she figured out that the engineer seemed to be on an adrenaline rush and decided to continue farther down to the drill. The man decided to pull his chute at 1,000 meters and a moment later the view screen indicated that Olson didn't make it.

"Olson is gone, sir." Chekov said with shock. Thea then watched anxiously for her brother to land safely on the drill. Chekov eased her worries with his next words, "Kirk has landed sir,"

Thea then focused on Sulu's readings, waiting for the man to also land. A few tense moments later, it was confirmed that Sulu had landed on the drill unharmed.

They all looked over when they heard Uhara say, "The jamming signal's gone. Transporter abilities are reestablished."

"Transporter control is reengaged, sir," Chekov reported.

"Chekov, run gravitational sensors. I want to know what they are doing to that planet."

"Aye, Commander." Chekov replied automatically, hurrying to correct himself, "Captain, sorry Captain."

Thea listened to her brother as she looked over her screens, "Kirk to Enterprise. They just launched something at the planet through the hole they just drilled. Do you copy Enterprise?"

"Copy you, Jim," Thea responded since everyone else seemed to be doing other things.

"Captain, gravitational sensors are off the scale. If my calculations are correct, they're creating a singularity that will consume the planet." Chekov said, turning to face Spock.

Spock was silent for a moment, "They're creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan?"

"Yes, sir." Thea looked up, glancing at the back of Spock's head, wondering what he was thinking.

"How long does the planet have?" Thea asked. Chekov looked at her and said mournfully, "Minutes."

At that, Spock stood up and headed toward the doors pausing to say to Uhara, "Alert Vulcan command center to signal a planet wide evacuation all channels, all frequencies." As he passed by her with Uhara on his tail, Spock told Thea, "Maintain standard orbit. You have the com, Ms. Kirk."

"Yes sir," She said as she watched Uhara talk quietly to Spock before she let him close the lift doors. Thea sat in thought for a moment, knowing exactly what Spock was planning on doing, her tactical mind whirling.

"Kirk to Enterprise, beam us out of here." Her brother said over the cons. A moment later, having come to a conclusion, Thea started for the elevators, saying over her shoulder, "Chekov, take the com."

Only hearing a vague, "Aye, ma'am," She continued into the lift and went down to the transporter room, stopping to get a phaser at the armory. She arrived just as Spock disappeared to the planet below.

She pushed past her brother and Sulu and went on one of the transporter pads. Both Sulu and Jim stared at her and protested, moving toward her, "THEA!"

"What are you doing?" Jim raged, closing in.

"Our resident Vulcan clearly didn't think this through, so I'm going down to make sure nothing happens." As Jim reached the edge of the platform she told Chekov, "Energize!"

A moment later she found herself at the foot of a massive rock formation. She saw an entrance high above her, and deciding to not chance falling to her death if she were to climb the mountain, moved to a more stable and flat service. She calculated that Spock would bring the Vulcan high command to this spot for the safest way to beam.

She was proven correct when Spock along with three other Vulcan's and a woman who was clearly Spock's mother appeared. Spock frowned at her, "Ms. Kirk, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to insure nothing happens, Commander." She simply replied as she moved closer to them, knowing they should be clustered closer together when they are beamed away. He just gave her another frown and said into his communicator. "Spock to Enterprise. Get us out now,"

"Locking onto you," Chekov said. "Don't move, stay right where you are."

As the lights swirled around them, Thea took one last look around Vulcan. It looked beautiful and very magnificent. She glanced down to her feet in sadness, suddenly noticing the cracking rock spreading towards them. She followed its intended path and saw it heading straight for Spock's mother. She idly heard Chekov counting down, as she moved and reached out, grasping the other woman by the hand. She felt the rock start crumbling under her and Spock's mother's feet, and a moment later she was weightless as a cry of surprise surged out of her and Spock's mother's throat.

"_Mother!" _The cry was heart wrenching to Thea as she slammed her eyes closed.

Thea's cry turned to a grunt when a hand suddenly tightened around her wrist. She glanced up to see Spock keeping her and his mother from falling to their deaths. She looked into Spock's eyes as they disappeared only to reappear on the Enterprise. The two women landed roughly on the ground, Thea rolling to avoid hitting the other woman. Her roll caused her to fall off of the transporter pads.

"DORA!" She heard before a moment later she was lifted off the ground and encased in her brother's arms. She hugged him back, looking over his shoulder to see Spock's mother hugging Spock who was returning the hug reverently. She looked away when Jim pulled her away slightly and told her, "Don't you ever do that again. I will kill you if you do,"

"Like you could live without me, brother dearest," She replied in return. He grinned at her, opening his mouth to comment when they heard a throat being cleared. They looked over and saw Spock standing with his mother next to him.

The mother stepped forward and pulled a surprised Thea into her arms. "Thank you. I could never repay you for what you did,"

As they pulled away Thea gave her a smile, "No thanks' needed. I was just doing my job, ma'am."

"Now none of that ma'am stuff. Call me Amanda," The woman said with a small smile.

Thea looked toward Spock when the man said softly. "Cadet Kirk, having went against Starfleet regulations and disobeyed direct orders from a commanding officer; I have only one thing to say: _Itaren_. Or thank you."

"Technically you didn't order me to stay on board, only to take over the com. Which I then handed over to Ensign Chekov, following Starfleet regulations, before leaving the bridge," At his raised eyebrow, she simply smiled and said, "Your welcome, Commander Spock,"

Amanda let out a small laugh, "I like you. You have a fire in you, I haven't seen in awhile."

Thea threw a glance at her brother who grinned in return before she turned back to Amanda, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Jim snorted, wrapping an arm around her, "You would. Come on, we should head to Med bay before Bones comes looking for us. You know he will hypo both of us to death if we didn't immediately get checked over."

Amanda watched as the siblings walked out, the two starting to banter back and forth, before turning to her son who she noticed was staring after the young woman with a curious expression on his face. "I like her."

Spock pulled his eyes to her at her sentence. He raised an eyebrow, "So you've said."

She nodded, encircling her arm through her sons, letting him lead her out of the room to follow the Kirk siblings. She glanced behind her at her husband who was following them silently. She simply gave him a look, causing him to shake his head at her. Sarek knew that Amanda was waiting for Spock to find the love of his life and every woman who Amanda saw around her son, she would analyze the interactions, looking for hints of one or the other having feelings for each other. He understood his wife's intent; Amanda wanted their son to have what they had with each other. But she needed to let it happen by itself, her meddling wouldn't help matters along as much as she tried to do so.


	4. I'm a Sweet Disaster

**_You guys are awesome! Work has been hectic lately and I've finally have a day off tomorrow so I will most likely post another chapter tomorrow! Don't forget to review and tell me how you guys are liking Thea and her interaction with Spock so far!_**

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In Med-bay Thea was sitting on a bed watching Spock who was staring pensively ahead of himself. She didn't know how she would feel to know that her planet was turned to nothing in just a few moments if she was in Spock's shoes. At least he still had both of his parents though.

"How you feelin' darlin'?" She pulled her eyes from Spock to look up at Leo who was standing in front of her with a scanner.

She raised an eyebrow at him, noticing that without waiting for her response he had started to run his scanner over her. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"

He snorted, "You have some bruised ribs, probably from hitting your station earlier-,"

"Your fault if I recall correctly," She mused as she watched his facial expression intently. This was a common thing that she and he did whenever the rare times that she had to get stitched up. He would tell her what was wrong and she would make sarcastic remarks in return, normally driving him insane by the time he had her stitched up. Jim found it hilarious, although the one time he had tried the same thing, Bones had hypoed him into unconsciousness. When he had awoken and asked why Bones never did the same to Thea, he received two different answers. Bones turned red and just threatened him with another hypo while Thea had grinned and said, "Because I'm more his type, brother dear." This made Bones sputter for a moment then stomp off to leave the Kirk twins to smirk after him.

He ignored her and continued. "Some lacerations on your temple,"

"Probably should have dodged those rocks faster. My bad,"

"There are some muscle strains on both of your arms near each socket."

"Tends to happen when you're being used as a human safety net,"

Leo finally looked up at her at that. "Human safety net?"

She gave him a sweet smile, "Yea."

"Care to elaborate, darlin'?" The question was clearly a demand.

Thea simply shrugged, "I'm sure you'll hear it sooner or later. Best to keep you in suspense,"

Leonard huffed and lightly grasped her chin, turning her head to the side so he could see the cut she had at her temple. Neither noticed that the moment that Thea had looked away, Spock had turned to watch them. He fought the unease at seeing the two; Dr. McCoy looked at Thea with exasperated fondness while Theodora seemed to grin up at McCoy unashamedly. His mind whirled as he tried to figure out how Nero could possibly think that he and Theodora Kirk were t'hy'la. The Romulan sounded so sure of that fact, the man was delusional so he could have just conjured up some make believe relationship. But how did Nero know the exact wording a Vulcan used? The word t'hy'la was kept sacred to Vulcan's only, and though Romulans shared a close ancestry to Vulcan's, that word was only used with Vulcan's.

The only way for Nero to have known it, was if he had heard a Vulcan speaking it to said Vulcan's mate. T'hy'la was considered a pet name too, Spock recalled some instances of t'hy'la mates calling each other that. But where would Nero have heard it? When?

Through his thinking, Spock did not notice his mother looking between him and Thea very closely. Amanda had seen Thea watching Spock before the gruff doctor had captured her attention, then saw Spock watch her as soon as she looked away. She needed to watch the two more to see how they react together in other situations.

00—00

Once everyone was healed, they all moved to the bridge. Thea and Leo were leaning against one of the railings, watching everyone else as they discussed what to do.

"Have you confirmed that Nero is heading for Earth?" Spock asked as he idly paced about the bridge.

Uhara spoke up, "Their trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Spock responded.

From his spot sitting in the Captain's chair, Jim said, "Earth maybe his next target but we have to assume every Federation planet is a target."

"Out of the chair," Spock softly reprimanded. Leo softly snorted as Jim rolled his eyes and stood up, moving to stand next to him and Thea.

"Well if the Federation is the target, why didn't they destroy us?" Chekov asked.

Sulu scoffed, "Why would they? Why waste a weapon? We obviously weren't a threat,"

Thea couldn't help but agree with what Sulu said. They truly were outmatched, and that just pissed her off. She looked over to Spock when he said, "That was not it. He said he wanted me to see something…the destruction of my home planet."

"How the hell did they do that by the way?" Leo asked, shifting slightly to cross his arms. "And where did the Romulans get that kind of weaponry?"

"The engineering comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an answer," Spock hinted.

Thea raised an eyebrow, "You can't honestly be saying what I think your saying." She had moved slightly toward Spock in her shock at what she concluded he was meaning.

Spock focused on her, making Uhara narrow her eyes. "Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space-time."

"_Theoretically_." Thea stressed, neither of them noticing that they had again moved closer.

Leo cut in on the two's staring match with, "Damn it, man! I'm a doctor, not a physicist! Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?"

"If you eliminate the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Spock said back with an arched brow.

"How poetic," Leo said sarcastically.

"Yes, but Sherlock Holmes isn't the one in our situation, right now." Thea told Spock. When he focused his eyes back on her, she sighed and decided to give the Vulcan some leeway. "_If_ what you're saying is true, what would an angry-future Romulan want with Captain Pike?"

"As captain, he does know details of Starfleet's defenses." Sulu mentioned. Spock gave Thea a look which she responded with slightly rolled eyes, clearly saying he won this round. Spock moved past her as Jim spoke up, "What we need to do is catch up with that ship. Disable it, take over and get Pike back." He looked at Thea for her support.

Spock spoke up before she could say anything, "We are technologically outmatched in every way. A rescue attempt would be illogical."

"Nero's ship would have to drop out of warp for us to overtake it," Chekov clearly saw that Jim's plan would be unlikely.

"Then what about assigning engineering crews to boost our warp yields?" Jim asked instead of giving up.

Spock didn't agree. "Remaining power and crew are being used to repair radiation leaks on the lower decks." The others watched as the two continued talking, both raising their voices above the other, trying to each make a point. Thea reached out a hand to stop Jim from moving closer to Spock when she noticed her brother marching over to where she and Spock were still standing.

"By the time we've 'gathered' it would be too late. You say he's from the future and knows what's gonna happen then the logical thing is to be unpredictable-_what Thea_?" The last part was growled at his sister when he noticed her shaking his head in the corner of his eye.

"We don't know that, Jim. For all we know Nero being here changed everything." She tried to get her point across before her brother winded up to get himself thrown into the brig.

He gave her a confused expression causing Spock to say, "You're assuming that Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold. The contrary, Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the U.S.S Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party."

Thea looked at her brother, "Nero brought on an alternate reality, Jim."

"Precisely," Spock said, giving Thea a small nod as he moved toward the Captain's chair. "Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted our destinies have changed. Mr. Sulu, plot a course for the Laurentian system, warp factor 3."

Jim moved toward the acting captain, "Spock, don't do that. Running back to the rest of the fleet for a con-fab is a massive waste of time."

"These our orders issued by Captain Pike before he left the ship," Spock reminded Jim.

"He also ordered us to go back and get him. Spock you are captain now, you have to make-,"

Spock cut in, "I'm aware of my responsibilities, Mr. Kirk." Thea moved toward her brother, prepared to stop him from making a big mistake, even though she agreed with him entirely, her tactical brain could see both points of views and she was more willing to go with Jim's plan since it was more active than running away for help.

"Every second we waste, Nero is getting closer to his next target!"

"That is correct and why I'm instructing you to accept the fact that I alone am in command."

Jim glared, "I will not allow us to go backwards and cower from the problem instead of hunting Nero down!"

"JIM!" Thea yelled, as Spock stood up. She made a move to step in when Leo pulled her away from the two angry males.

"Security, escort him out." Spock ordered. Jim blinked, glancing to his sister who gave him a warning look. As two security officers came up behind Jim, Spock sat down glancing between the twins who were having one of their silent communications. He was silently hoping that Theodora didn't do anything to make him have her also forced from the bridge. Whatever Thea seemed to be communicating to her brother seemed to make him sigh and allow the security guards to start to lead him off the bridge. Thea started to relax, pausing when her brother fought out of the security guards holds.

"Enough Jim!" Leo yelled.

Jim continued to fight, not even pausing when he heard his sister, "JIM! STOP!" if he had looked over he would have seen Sulu reaching out and stopping Thea from jumping into the fight with him by wrapping his arms around the young woman's waist. Thea struggled against Sulu; everything in her was urging her to help her brother. She watched as Spock came up from behind Jim and seemed to pinch the back of his neck, causing him to drop like a pound of potatoes.

They all looked at Spock as he commanded in a dark tone to one of the security guards, "Get him off this ship."

Leo looked to Thea when she let a growl at the command. She was glaring at Spock as the security guards reached down and started to carry Jim off of the bridge. Spock glanced around the quiet bridge, before focusing on the fuming Thea that was glaring at him venomously.

He waited for her to yell, curse, or even try to hit him like humans were wont to do when highly emotional, especially women. The bridge seemed to be waiting anxiously also, everyone in that room knew how close the Kirk twins were. If you attacked one, you would not only get the one you had attacked on you but also the others sibling as well. Sulu was trying to calm her down, his voice low as he whispered something in her ear as she continued to glare at Spock.

Everyone, including Spock, were astonished when suddenly all anger on Thea's face vanished, leaving her face completely blank and cold. She pulled herself out of Sulu's arms, causing everybody to tense and ready themselves for Thea to throw herself at Spock.

Thea didn't do that. She pivoted sharply on her heel and stalked to the lift on the opposite side of the bridge that her brother was just carried out of. She glided in, stabbing at a button with her back to the bridge. The doors closed on her tensed shoulders and her hands slowly clenching into fists at her side.

-000

Hearing the doors closed behind her, Thea let out a deep sigh before saying to the bank of numbers next to her, "Computer: locate James T. Kirk."

A moment later a robotic voice said, "James T. Kirk is located at shuttle bay three." At hearing that, she reached over and pressed the button that would take her to her brother. When she reached her destination she started down the halls, passing a few crew members. Finally she came upon the security guards that had taken her brother, they having already released the pod into space.

"Damn it!" She cursed softly, hiding as the guards turned and left. She moved to the window next to where the pod had recently been launched and watched as the small ball big enough to fit a human being was soaring to a nearby planet.

"The Kirk twins should be together, it's only right," A voice suddenly sneered from behind her. She turned; ready to hit whoever was behind her in agitation, when she was suddenly pushed into the window she had just been looking out of. She unwillingly let out a cry of pain when she felt her head connect hard to the window, she blacked out for a moment, not feeling her body start to slide down the wall, blood trailing after her from her head. She didn't feel her body roughly picked up and taken to another shuttle pod and carelessly thrown in.

She awoke slightly when she landed on her left arm wrong, grunting from the sudden fiery pain in her arm. She might have just popped her shoulder out of place and it hurt like a bitch. She looked up through bleary eyes to see a figure she vaguely remembered. "Have fun, slut." The figure snarled before she felt the shuttle being released from the Enterprise.

She gave a sharp cry when her body was flung around, again landing on her arm. The pain was intense and caused her to fortunately pass out as her shuttle flew after her brothers.


	5. I'm a Wild Card

_**Sorry for the long wait...work has been harsh lately. Here's chapter five, Spock Prime seeing Thea! There are some Vulcan words in this chapter so if your curious on what anything means, translations are going to be posted at the bottom! It makes me ecstatic every time I see a review so please continue! :)**_

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"_Thea!"_

"_Dora!"_

"_Thea, wake up!" _

"_Goddamn it! DORA!"_

"_Theodora Felicity Kirk! _WAKE UP!"

A sharp scream escaped her throat as she snapped up straight from her once prone position when she heard the last command clearly. Her right hand reached out to cradle her left close to her chest at the white hot pain that seared through her arm. She clenched her eyes at the brightness when her head pounded viciously. She couldn't decide if she was hot or cold as she felt hands wrap a jacket around her shoulders. She wanted the jacket off because she felt heat radiating from her arm but her body was wracked with shivers, clearly indicating her body was in fact cold.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dora?"

Theodora Kirk had a few nicknames over the years but only one person ever called her 'Dora'. She squinted up at her brother who was kneeling in the blinding white snow in front of her.

"'Jim?" She murmured. "Where are we?"

He sighed, clearly seeing that he wasn't getting anything out of her with her having most likely a small concussion. "Delta Vega. There's a Starfleet outpost not too far from here. You think you can walk?"

She thought for a moment, trying to clear her head, and said after a moment, "Yea. Just help me up, would you?"

"Ok," He stood up, bending down to wrap his arms under her armpits. "This might hurt." He then lifted her, jostling her arm and causing Thea to bite down hard on her lip to fight the pain filled scream that wanted to come out.

"FUCK! I'm going to kill whoever had the bright idea to shove me into that pod!" She snarled out. Jim clearly wanted to comment on that, to ask who and why, but decided to focus on the arm she was still cradling protectively.

After looking for a moment and recognizing the signs of having a shoulder knocked out place, he told her, "I need to pop your shoulder back into place, Dora. We can't leave it like that or it will be worse later."

She shook her head at him, "Fine, whatever, do it. Just stop calling me Dora!" The name reminded her too much of Tarsus.

He simply nodded and reached out, cradling her arm as she let go and looked away. He looked at her face and said, "On the count of three…one, two"-_CRACK_ Jim suddenly pushed her arm back into place.

"SON OF A-," Thea started, stopping her from screaming more by breathing through her nose sharply. She gave him a narrowed eye look causing him to shrug unapologetically. He then slowly wrapped her arm in a makeshift sling with some of the wrap that was used for his hands and helped her put her left arm into the sleeves of the wool jacket that came with her pod. Once her other arm was in the sleeve, he zipped up the jacket and flipped the hood up on her head. He grabbed both duffle bags that carried some essentials and put them over his back to carry.

They started to walk, Thea leaning close to her brother through the thick wind, her right arm automatically cradling her left for protection. She idly listened to her brother complain into the com he had found in one of the duffels, keeping an eye on their surroundings. They both paused when they heard something through the wind.

A big animal with wicked teeth was coming right at them. Thea groaned when Jim pushed her to start running away from the thing and continuing toward the direction of the outpost. Thea fell to the ground with Jim following after her, both turning to see something come barreling out of the snow underneath and attack what had been chasing them. The weird red, spidery thing easily killed the other before turning to look at them and starting for them as they scrambled up and started to run again.

Thea screamed when she and Jim suddenly found the ground fall away and they tumbled down a steep hill. They finally came to a stop at the bottom, Thea groaning in pain from where her arm had been hit every time she rolled down the hill. Jim saw the thing following after them and stood up, grabbing his sister and dragging her with him to continue to run. He pushed her toward a cave and said, "GO THEA! TO THE CAVE!"

Thea clenched her jaw and ran as fast as her legs would go toward safety. She made it, with Jim a few steps behind her and they continued to run so they could be farther out of the things reach. They ran in deeper, Thea turning to look when she heard her brother grunt and saw the thing had wrapped its tongue around her brother's leg and was pulling him toward the huge mouth.

"JIM!" She screamed as she moved toward him, reaching out with her right hand to grasp the back of his hood. She struggled to pull her brother away from the thing but was failing and could feel herself being pulled along with her brother toward the monster's mouth.

Suddenly a figure appeared wielding a fire torch. The figure swung the torch at the monster causing it to cringe away and let Jim go. Thea winced when her body fell back to the ground as her brother's form went slack from the monster letting go. As the figure continued to warn the monster away, Jim, still in defense mode, crawled backwards toward his injured sister to protect her from this unknown threat. Once the monster left, both Thea and Jim stared at the back of their savior. The man turned and Thea was surprised to see he was Vulcan.

The man looked at them, recognition shinning in dark eyes as he looked over the two. Thea almost gasped at what looked to be love and heartbreak in the man's eyes when he focused on her.

"James T and Theodora Felicity Kirk," The man said, almost reverently.

Jim frowned, "Excuse me?"

"How did you find me?" The man asked. Jim stood up, turning to help Thea up. The both of them looked at the Vulcan when he made a move toward Thea when she had winced.

Jim kept a warning hand out to the man and said, "How do you know our names?"

The Vulcan looked to both of them, "I am and always shall be, your friend," Then focusing solely on Thea he continued, "And you're _Ashalik_."

Jim glanced between the two; Thea found she was unable to look away from the warmth in the brown orbs, in slightly _familiar_ brown orbs. Jim forced a laugh, "Look, we don't know you."

"I am Spock." The Vulcan said simply.

"Bullshit!"

"WHAT?"

Jim and Thea exclaimed with surprise. Using their surprise, Spock moved toward them, slowly grasping Thea's right wrist and leading her farther into the cave with Jim following. They came upon a fire, and Spock gently sat Thea down next to it. Jim crouched down across from them, watching as Spock carefully unzipped Thea's jacket and moved it down slightly so he could look at her arm. Thea, Jim noticed, was watching the other Spock's face intently as the Vulcan frowned at her arm in clear concern.

"It is remarkably pleasing to see the both of you again. Especially after the events of today," Spock said suddenly. The Vulcan first glanced at Jim before looking up into Thea's eyes that were still watching him.

"Uh, sir, I appreciate what you did for me and my sister today but if you were Spock you would know we're not friends-_at all_. You hate me; you marooned me here for mutiny." Jim said, standing up.

"Mutiny?" The other Spock questioned, then turning to Thea he asked, "And what brought you here, Theodora?"

Staring into searching brown eyes, Thea felt herself compelled to answer, "I was going to stop them from sending Jim off but someone came up from behind me and slammed me into a window before throwing me into another pod." Thea watched as the once warm eyes darkened in anger. Spock turned to look at Jim and asked, "You are not the captain?"

"No," Thea answered for her brother who was visibly angry at hearing how she got hurt. When Spock looked back at her, she continued, "You are. Pike was taken hostage,"

"By Nero," He stated as Jim started to pace in agitation.

Knowing that her brother was still listening in his state she then asked, "What do you know about him?" Spock focused on her arm for a moment, gently pressing around her shoulder.

"He's a particularly troubled Romulan." He finally answered after a long moment. He paused in his inspection when Thea hissed at the sudden pain. Jim turned to her, starting to move closer but stopped when Spock cupped his sister's face and stared at her with a deep frown.

"I am sorry, _t'hy'la_. I did not mean to agitate your wound." Spock murmured softly to her.

Thea's eyes snapped to his, her right hand reaching up to grasp the wrist that was cupping her face. "That is the second time someone has called me that today. It's Vulcan, but I don't know what it means."

Spock watched her for a moment, a small-_secret_-smile pulling at the edges of his mouth, "It has many meanings, and I'm sure you will find out what it means in due time." As she moved to protest, he moved his hands to place them at her PSI-meld points. "I can take away some of the pain, _t'hy'la_. Would you allow me to do so?"

She stared at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "You're avoiding the question," She accused softly.

He smiled, "So I am. Something I gained from two old friends. Now, would you allow me to take some of your pain away?"

Jim waited for her to say no. His sister was stubborn and didn't trust others easily, but he was surprised when Thea nodded. Spock nodded back and said softly, "Our minds, as one,"

Thea's eyes closed and she gasped as she felt sudden warmth in her head. It felt safe…and somehow familiar. As though a missing part of her had suddenly come back after a long time away and the rest of her was rejoicing at the sudden feeling of completeness. She felt herself relax as the warmth seemed to spread throughout her whole body, focusing mainly on the pounding in her head and fire burning at her arm. Slowly the pounding and burning resided some, just becoming an annoyance that she could push to the back of her mind. She then had the sudden feeling as though she was being hugged closely and lovingly.

She wanted to whine in protest when the warmth left slowly. As though knowing where the warmth had come from, her relaxed body slouched forward into the other Spock as he left her mind. A sigh left her as her head fell gently onto the Vulcan's shoulder, her eyes staying closed as she felt a hand come up to cradle the back of her head. She shivered slightly when she heard a smooth voice whisper to her, "_Taluhk nash-veh k'dular t'hy'la,"_

Spock then gently pushed her away, zipping her back up in her jacket. He then stood up and moved to Jim as Thea stared at the fire in thought. She looked up when her brother was released from Spock's meld, tears filling his eyes.

"Forgive me, emotional transference is an effect of a mind meld." Spock said softly. Thea stood up at seeing her brother's reaction and moved to stand in front of Spock who had been watching Jim with sorrow-filled eyes. His eyes snapped to hers and Thea wanted to cry at the depth of emotions in the Vulcan's eyes. She didn't notice as her hand came up and cupped his face, in some semblance of comfort. Spock closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, one of his own coming up to grasp hers that was against his face.

"So you do feel," Jim said in realization.

"Of course he does," Thea couldn't help but snap. Spock squeezed her hand, showing he didn't take any offense and answered Jim, "Yes,"

"Going back in time, you changed all of our lives."

Thea dropped her hand as Spock moved closer to her brother and said, "Jim, we must go. There is a Starfleet outpost not far from here." The Vulcan started for the entrance to the cave, Jim and Thea watching him for a moment.

"Wait," Spock paused at Thea's voice. "From where you came from…did Jim and I know our father?"

Spock turned to look at her as she slowly walked toward him. He studied her; she was almost desperate with her question and looked like she was on the edge of her feet in anticipation for his answer. _Please,_ he thought,_ please don't say that his t'hy'la didn't know her father._

He took a small step to her, "Yes. Jim often spoke of him as being his inspiration for joining Starfleet. You, Theodora, would laugh on how your father loved and hated that you too joined Starfleet. He loved that you, along with your brother, were following in his and your mother's footsteps while he hated the fact that his baby girl could get hurt and he wouldn't be there to protect you." Thea looked away, fighting back tears as Spock slowly continued, still moving closer to her. "He proudly lived to see Jim become Captain of the Enterprise and you Chief Tactical Officer under your brother's command."

"Captain?" Jim whispered in astonishment while Thea fought the sudden urge to scream. It just wasn't fair!

Spock stopped in front of Thea and said, "A ship we must return the both of you to as soon as possible." He then reached down and swiped at a traitorous tear that had rolled down Thea's cheek. His touch lingered for a moment before he turned and started out of the cave. Jim came up behind her and grasped her hand, simply saying, "Dora,"

She sniffed then said, "Jimmy," He squeezed her hand and led her after Spock.

They walked through the snow for what seemed like hours but were probably only thirty minutes or so. Throughout the walk, Thea couldn't keep her mind off of her interactions with the older Spock. She figured out that the timeline the older Spock came from, he and her were together, if the way he had looked at her gave any indication. But what was driving her up the wall was the '_t'hy'la_'. What did it mean? It sounded like an endearment, but when Spock spoke it to her…it sounded much more _intimate_ then just an endearment. Much more important than just a simple endearment.

Finally they reached atop of a hill and saw the outpost not far. It took another five minutes before they reached it, Spock and Jim struggling to open the door and allowing Thea to go in first. They closed it after themselves, Thea throwing her hood off of her head and peering down the dimly light hallway ahead of her.

Thea frowned, glancing over to her companions when she heard a voice. The voice was either too far away or in a different language since she couldn't understand a word that the being said.

"Hello?" Jim yelled down the hall. A moment later a small figure came down the hall towards them. The small figure looked them over before leading them down the hall and into a cavernous room. Thea and Jim looked around them, trying to piece together what this outpost was used for. The figure had stopped in front of a man sleeping, with his feet reclined on the desk.

The figure poked at the man's leg. "What?" The man grunted, lifting his head to look at them with some surprise. "You realize how unacceptable this is?"

"Fascinating," Older Spock replied.

"What?" Jim asked.

"You know him?" Thea asked in disbelief.

The man ignored the byplay between the three, "Ok, I'm sure you're just doing your job, but could you not come a wee bit sooner? Six months I've been here, living off of Starfleet protein nips and a promise of a good meal. And I know exactly what's going on here ok? Punishment! Isn't it? Ongoing, for something that was clearly an accident,"

"You are Montgomery Scott." Spock intoned.

"So you do know him," Thea snarked. Spock gave her a wry look, very similar to the look his younger counterpart gave her not too long ago.

The man, Scott, nodded. "Aye, that's me. You're in the right place. Unless there's another hard working equally starved Starfleet officer around."

"Me," The little figure said.

"Shut up! You don't eat anything! You can eat like a bean, and you're done. I'm talking about food, real food. But you're here now, so thank you. Where is it?"

Thea sat down on the edge of the desk as Spock said, "You are in fact the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of transwarp theory?"

"That's what I'm talking about! How'd you think I winded up here?" Mr. Scott said.

"Wait that was you?" Thea cut in to ask. She had read about the theory once and saw his paper on it and couldn't help but think that the idea would be valuable in any battle situation.

Scott nodded to her, giving her a smile. "Aye, beauty! I had a little debate with my instructor on the relativistic physics and how it pertains to sub-space travel. He seemed to think the range of transporting something like uh…like a grapefruit was limited to about a hundred miles. I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system, which is easy by the way, I could do it with a life form. So I tested it on Admiral Archer's prized beagle."

Thea let out a guffaw, putting the pieces together and figuring out what happened. Jim, however, didn't. "I know that dog, what happened to it?"

"I'll tell you when it reappears. I don't know, I do feel guilty about that." Mr. Scott said as he took a drink out of a chunky cup and put it down next to Thea, who glanced down and noticed it was too dark and thick to be water. She raised an eyebrow at the man as older Spock said, "What if I told you that your transwarp theory was correct, that it was indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is traveling at warp speed,"

Thea tilted her head, Spock fighting a fond smile, knowing her brilliant mind was trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

Scott was perplexed. "I think that if that equation had been discovered, I'd heard about it."

"The reason you haven't heard about it, Mr. Scott, is because you haven't discovered it yet."

Thea, Jim and Scott all blinked collectively at the Vulcan. "Are you from the future?" the latter asked as he stood up.

"He is, we're not," Jim said, waving to himself and his sister.

"Well that's brilliant. Do they still have sandwiches there?" Scott asked.

Thea snorted, "You find out he's from the future and the first question you ask is if there are still sandwiches? God, you _are_ in need of real food." Scott gave her a sheepish smile as he moved to lead them to an old run-down space shuttle. As Scott showed Jim something on the outside, Spock lead her inside and she took the time to ask, "Will you tell me what…thyla means?" She struggled over the word.

He gave her a smile and corrected her, making sure to pronounce it clearly for her, "T'hy'la. I'm glad to see that your curiosity is still the same."

As he moved toward a screen she scowled at him, "Don't go avoiding the subject. Why won't you tell me? It can't possibly disrupt anything in this timeline by me knowing,"

Spock turned and Thea was unnerved to see a look of reverence on his face directed at her. She didn't know that he was so happy that she, just like his own version of her, knew his thought process. He was wary on what he told them because he didn't want to ruin any chances of the people he knew from before to disappear in this timeline. At her look, he sighed and took a step away from the computer and reached out to tilt her chin up so he could look into her eyes better. "In Vulcan, _T'hy'la _has many meanings, like I told you. But when it's spoken, it is often spoken just for one person. That person is to someone that a Vulcan considers being their friend, lifelong companion, lover, or soul mate."

Thea gasped. "Did…did the other me call you that?"

"Once you learned what it meant, you endeavored to learn how to say it perfectly before also calling me the same."

She gave him a sad smile, "But I'm not the same person. I'm not you're…" She struggled for a moment but was able to hesitantly say the word. "_T'hy'la_,"

"You may have some differences from my Theodora, but in personality and temperament, you are one and the same." Spock told her.

Thea shook her head, pulling away from him. She struggled to put her walls back up that this man had easily torn down from the first moment he had looked at her. Tears were brewing in her eyes as she pointed at him, "Don't. I'm not some stand in. It's completely different now, the Spock I know-a relationship between me and him would _never_ happen."

He let her move away, though it pained him to see her struggling with her emotions but simply told her, "To Vulcan's _t'hy'la_ only come once in a Vulcan's life. It is believed that no matter the time, worlds or dimensions, t'hy'la mates will find each other one way or another. It is simply fate."

"Fuck fate!" She scoffed, simply turning away from him and putting space between them. As Mr. Scott talked to Spock, Jim went toward his sister and gave her a look at seeing her red eyes.

She shrugged, "I'm just tired."

"That's a lie. What did the two of you talk about?" He nodded toward the Vulcan.

"Nothing," She tried to move past him but he stopped her.

"Thea-,"

She glared at him, "It's none of your business, James!" He pulled away from her as though he was burned. The two never called each other by their full names; it was always nicknames and nothing more. Their full names brought on too many bad memories.

Jim looked to older Spock and said, slightly roughly, "You're coming with us, right?"

"No, Jim. That is not my destiny."

Thea couldn't help but snort, causing Jim to glance at her before looking back at Spock, "Your destiny? He…the other Spock is not going to believe me. Only you could explain what's happening,"

Spock shook his head, "Under no circumstances can he be made aware of my existence. You must promise me this,"

"You're telling me I can't tell you that I'm following your own orders. Why what happens?" Jim asked with disbelief.

"Jim, this is one rule you cannot break. To stop Nero, you alone must take command of your ship."

Jim shook his head, "How? Over your dead body?" He was slightly willing to that idea, only for the fact that he wanted to hit Spock for upsetting his sister.

"Preferably not. However there is Starfleet regulations 6-1-9. 6-1-9 states that any command officer, who is emotionally compromised by the mission at hand, must resign said command."

"So you're saying that I have to emotionally compromise you…guys?"

Spock gave a sad glance to Thea, who fought the urge to comfort him, "Jim, I just lost my planet. I can tell you, I'm emotionally compromised. What you must do is to get me to show it."

Before Spock could say more, Scott then said, "Aye laddie. Live or die, let's get this over with." Both Jim and Thea went into different portals that would take them to the Enterprise. Spock moved closer to Thea and said after a moment of him watching her and she vainly ignoring him, "Theodora Kirk, whether she is from my timeline or this one, is never a stand in." Her eyes finally met his and the two watched each other. Spock continued when he was sure he had her attention. "Even if you do not believe in fate, some part of him does. I do not wish for you to think that you are a replacement or that it is non-negotiable, but being _t'hy'la_ will be beneficial to the both of you. And I promise you that neither one of you will regret it, once the both of you move past pride and misconceptions about the other."

Thea swallowed thickly as Spock reached out and squeezed her hand. She almost smiled when she felt his fingers slid against hers in a Vulcan kiss.

"You know coming back in time, changing history? That's cheating." Jim said softly, not wanting to break up the moment that was happening next to him.

Spock glanced up at him, "A trick I learned from an old friend." He then moved away from Thea and pressed a few buttons on the computer next to him before turning to Thea and Jim and giving them the Vulcan salute of farewell said "Live long and prosper."

Thea watched as Spock slowly faded away and the three were sent on board the Enterprise. When they arrived, Thea looked around, recognizing they were in engineering.

"Mr. Scott!" Jim shouted, looking for the Irish man. Thea looked around also, both pausing when they heard banging from behind Jim. He was in one of the turbines and Thea cursed as she looked up to follow where the pipe went.

"SHIT! Jim, over here!" Thea screamed as she ran toward one of the computer screens. Her brother reached them before her and typed speedily and released the valve, allowing Scott to fall to the ground, dripping wet.

They went toward him, Jim asking, "You alright?"

"My heads buzzing and I'm soaked, but otherwise I'm fine." Scott said.

Thea looked around, "Come on, we have to go. Someone was bound to have noticed that." Jim helped Mr. Scott up before the three started running up some steps. They ran up, deeper into engineering, finally being stopped by a couple of security officers. Two of which being people that Jim and Thea had fought back in that Iowa bar 3 years ago.

"Come with me, Cupcake." The big burly one said, sneering at Jim. The other one, glared at Thea, reaching out to grab her left arm. Thea flinched away from him and snarled, "Fucking touch my arm and I'll do worse than denying you the chance to procreate!"

"And I'll definitely help," Jim said lowly, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and allowed the security team to lead them out of engineering. They were led back up to the bridge and brought in front of Spock. Thea couldn't help but marvel at the differences between the two Spock's. While the one she had just seen was warm, this one was ice cold and had a perpetual frown.

"Who are you?" Spock demanded to Mr. Scott.

"He's with me," Jim said.

"I'm with him," Scott agreed.

"We're traveling at warp speed. How did you manage to beam aboard this ship?" Spock asked.

Jim shrugged carelessly. "You're the genius, you figure it out."

"As acting captain of this vessel, I order you to answer the question."

"Well I'm not telling _acting_ captain." Spock looked as though he wanted to punch Jim before he turned his attention to Thea who had been glancing over at Leo who was giving her a narrowed-eyed look.

"Cadet Kirk. Where have you been? You left your post," Spock asked, his eyes looking her over, curiosity shinning when he noticed her cradling her arm close to her chest.

Thea finally looked at him and said, "It seems a security officer decided it was a brilliant idea to throw me in a pod and send me after my brother."

"Who?" Spock and Leonard asked as one.

"Someone who is going to wish that they had more brains and forethought to not mess with a Kirk, especially this Kirk," Thea said with a sweet, sarcastic smile.

He frowned at her causing her to snipe, (she could feel the pain returning slowly along with her head bursting with harsh pulses throughout her head) "What? That doesn't frustrate you, does it? My lack of cooperation,"

Jim cut in, deciding it was best if he angered the Vulcan since he wasn't as badly hurt, "That doesn't make you angry?"

Spock looked to Scott, "Are you a member of Starfleet?"

"…Yes. Can I get a towel please?"

"Under penalty of court marshal, I order you to explain to me how you were able to beam aboard this ship while at warp." Spock said with intensity.

Scott started but stopped when Jim said, "Don't answer him."

"You will answer me," Thea shifted, feeling the pounding steadily returning now.

Scott glanced between Jim and Spock then said, "I'd rather not take sides."

At that, Jim moved into Spock's face. "What is it with you, Spock? Hmm? Your planet was just destroyed, your mother almost murdered and you're not even upset,"

"If you are presuming that these experiences in anyway impede my ability to command this ship you are mistaken,"

"And yet you were the one who said fear was necessary for command. I mean did you see his ship? Did you see what he did?" Thea bit her lip as she saw a flash of rage in Spock's eyes before it disappeared. She wondered if she would be able to help Jim if Spock reacted badly.

Jim had also seen the rage and continued to try and get a reaction as Spock said, "Yes, of course I did."

"So are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotion." Spock said with barely hidden anger.

"Then why don't you stop me,"

"Step away from me, Mr. Kirk." Spock warned now.

"What is it like not to feel anger or heartbreak? Or the need to stop at nothing to avenge your planet?"

"Back away from me," Thea held her breath and clenched her right fist.

"You feel NOTHING! It must not even compute for you, you never showed an ounce of love for your own mother!" Spock reacted at that. His fist swung, hitting Jim perfectly and hard. Scott had grabbed Thea and pulled her away as Spock attacked Jim with rage. Jim tried to block his hits and land a few of his own but Spock was unmoving and not to be stopped from taking Jim down.

Thea came out of her surprise when she saw Spock lean over and start to choke Jim. She moved forward, barely hearing Spock's father say, "Spock,"

Even the sound of his father's voice didn't seem to stop Spock and Thea rushed forward. She grabbed Spock's wrist that was connected to the hand clenching around her brother's neck and yelled, "STOP!"

Spock's eyes snapped to hers for just a moment even as he had a sudden rush of her emotions from where her fingers touched his bare wrist. _Anger, fright, worry, sadness, apologetic, guilt._ The Vulcan was surprised when he then received an onslaught of thoughts to accompany those feelings-'_NO! STOP, YOUR KILLING HIM! Oh god, please don't kill him. You better be alright, Jimmy. Spock, just stop. You don't need to do this, just stop. I'm so sorry. So sorry that we have to do this, he doesn't mean it-I promise. I'm sorry. I'm really not good at being a t'hy'la, I don't know why he thought we were meant to be.' _

Spock released Jim's neck as Thea and he stared at each other for a moment more. Then Thea looked away and bent down to look over her gasping brother as Spock almost stumbled away from the twins. He moved toward Leonard who was looking to Jim and Thea with worry, and said, "Doctor, I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the date and time in the ship's log." He then continued out the door. Uhara moving to place a hand on his shoulder but stopped when Spock simply side-stepped her. A moment later, Spock's father followed after his son.

Thea looked over her brother's neck as he breathed heavily, the both of them glancing over when Scott said, "I like this ship! It's exciting."

"Well congratulations, Jim. Now we've got no Captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him." Leonard said with a frown.

Jim gave Thea a glance then said, "Yea we do." He gave her a small nod and stood up, moving toward the Captain's chair. Thea started to slowly make her way toward the door, feeling some instinct to go after Spock.

"Pike made him first officer." Sulu informed the bridge.

Thea almost paused at that, having not known that as Leo said in shock, "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Thanks for the support," Jim said wryly.

Uhara walked over to him and said with a sneer, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, _Captain_."

Thea glared and snuck out the door, hearing her brother say, "So do I."

She made her way down the hallways, idly noting through the pounding in her head that her brother had made an announcement over the intercom. She soon found herself coming around the corner that led to where the transporter room was. She knew she was in the right place when she saw Amanda sitting outside of the doors nervously. What made Thea pause was the fact that she knew to come here without having to ask anyone she met where Spock had went.

She shook her head, deciding to think on it later and slowly walked over to the worried mother. Amanda caught sight of her and looked at her straight on causing Thea to bite her lip and say, "I'm…I just came to apologize to Spock about what my brother said, it was rude and harsh-,"

"But the intentions were correct." The two women looked over when Sarek came out of the transporter room. Sarek rested a hand on his wife's shoulder and said to Thea, "Spock is indeed compromised. So while the action was harsh the intention was not."

"I know he probably doesn't want to see me, but I really feel I should apologize." Thea told them earnestly.

While Sarek looked as though he might object, Amanda gave the younger woman a small smile and said, "I think you'll find that you're wrong about him not wanting to see you." Having said that, Amanda led her husband down the hall and out of sight.

Thea frowned after them, but gave a sigh and slowly walked into the transporter room, almost jumping when the doors slid closed behind her. Spock was facing away from her, his shoulders tense as he stared at the spot where Thea and Amanda had appeared together.

She cleared her throat, watching Spock seem to become much tenser. She wet her suddenly dried lips, she was never one who was good at apologies since she believed it was weak but this needed to be done. "I'm here to apologize for what my brother said-,"

He cut in, "I know you are apologetic and guilty. Your guilt is misplaced."

"I…what?" She stuttered, wondering how he could possibly know that she felt guilty for having to do what she and her brother did.

He finally turned to face her and said as he started toward her, "I understand logically that your brother did not mean what he said. What I don't understand was why you think you had to do it?"

She shook her head, trying to regain her bearings and wondering how in the hell he seemed to know her exact thoughts. "I don't understand what you're talking about. My brother shouldn't have said-,"

He again cut her off, "Do you know that Vulcan's are touch-telepaths?"

_Oh shit!_ She thought, remembering that she had grasped his wrist earlier. "I…yes,"

He continued as he kept walking toward her, making her back away from him for every step he took. "Then you know what happened when you touched my wrist,"

"Look," She started as she raised her hand and felt herself hit the wall behind her. "I am sorry that I touched you, I know how much Vulcan's hate that, but I was a little worried at the time about the survival of my brother."

"Since you touched my wrist I felt your emotions and heard some of your thoughts." He ignored her completely, now almost crowding her into the wall. He stared down at her widened blue eyes and leaned forward into her face and whispered, "How do you know that word?"

"What word?" She asked in return, wanting to push him away but didn't want him to know she was uncomfortable with his proximity.

"_T'hy'la_," He said, desperation making the word sound sharper. Her lips parted slightly and she felt a shiver go down her spine, she just shook her head and looked away, mouthing wordlessly. She didn't know what to say, she hadn't even decided if she was going to mention to Spock about the whole soul mate thing. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to take the chance that he would want to be with her. He was a brilliant man, but he wasn't the man for her. He needed someone better, someone like Uhara, not her.

He suddenly reached up and cupped her face, turning her face towards his. This made their eyes connect as he again asked, "How?" When she still stared at him, he then said, "No one outside of Vulcan is meant to know that word. So tell me how you, a human, knows that word and used it with the knowledge of what it means?"

"I can't tell you. I probably just heard it somewhere-,"

"Impossible!" He told her, cutting off her horrible excuse. "Who told you? You haven't been around many Vulcan's these past few months to learn it-,"

He cut himself off sharply. Her mind, in its weary state, had unconsciously brought up the last memory of the older Spock at his words. And through his touch on her face, younger Spock, had seen it and heard it,

"_**Theodora Kirk, whether she is from my timeline or this one, is never a stand in.**_ _**Even if you do not believe in fate, some part of him does. I do not wish for you to think that you are a replacement or that it is non-negotiable, but being t'hy'la will be beneficial to the both of you. And I promise you that neither one of you will regret it, once the both of you move past pride and misconceptions about the other." **_

_**Spock slipped his fingers over hers very softly in a Vulcan kiss.**_

Spock pulled away and the two stared at each other for a moment. "He said…we were _t'hy'la_." Spock said softly.

Thea gulped and opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, when to her relief she heard Leonard's gruff voice say from just outside the door, "Theodora Felicity Kirk! Why in the hell didn't you come to med bay? I had to hear from your brother that you had a dislocated shoulder and a possible concussion?" She gave a sigh of relief and giving Spock one last glance; she turned tail and ran out the door.

Leo looked at her with a scowl and she gave him a small smile in return. His scowl turned into a frown at her expression and he stepped closer and reached out to tilt her head up to face him. "What's the matter, darlin'? And don't give me that 'nothing' bullshit,"

Thea gave him a sad smile. "Do you know how great you are, Leo?"

"Are you ok?" Leonard asked sharply, reaching out to cup her cheeks. She stared at him for a moment, a thin glistening of tears appearing over her eyes before she said, "I don't know. Maybe I can get back to you on that?"

He studied her for a moment before nodding. "Ok, darlin', whatever you say. Let's get you to med-bay and I can look you over." He then wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders and led her down the hall.

In the transporter room, Spock stared at the spot that McCoy and Theodora had just been standing at. Neither had noticed that the door to the transporter room had not closed since Spock had moved to follow Thea's retreat from the room. He had seen the scene, his fists slowly clenching into fists, at seeing McCoy touch Thea so _intimately_. Theodora Kirk was his _t'hy'la_. All the signs had been there from the start. Seeing her for the first time at the court assembly and having an instant curiosity about her and her interactions with Jim Kirk. Having the urge to reassure her and give her luck on her first mission in space, he felt drawn to her no matter how hard he fought it. Always looking over to check on her, feeling calm when she was standing next to him in the face of Nero; his heart beating frantically when Nero called her his _t'hy'la_. He was so grateful that she decided to follow after him to Vulcan, if she hadn't his mother wouldn't be here. And though he had worry for her when he hadn't seen her for hours after having sent her brother off the ship, he pushed it away to focus on heading toward the rest of the fleet.

He had felt relief at seeing her on the security feed in engineering. That relief had turned to anger at her brother's actions and confusion at her hostility towards him. It really hit him that she was _his_ when her yelling and grabbing him stopped him from killing James Kirk. His father had called out to him and he hadn't even noticed, nor cared, but just the sound of her voice and her hand on his wrist instantly pulled him from his rage. It was…fascinating.

She didn't believe that they were though. She didn't think she would be a good t'hy'la. Why would she think such a thing? Didn't she notice that she was the only one to get through to him?

'_I don't know why he thought we were meant to be,'_

Those words echoed in his thoughts. Did she not want him? He suddenly recalled the things he had heard around about the Kirk twins back at the academy. Nyota would rant some on the male Kirk but it was mostly focused on the female of the twins. Nyota would tell him that Thea probably received her excellent grades because she slept with her professors, since the woman apparently slept around. While Spock knew that Thea sleeping around for good grades were incorrect, he had seen the woman in action just recently and that could not be faked, the fact that Thea did sleep around with students wasn't as unlikely. It also appeared that Dr. McCoy and she were very close. At least on the doctors side he appeared to have a great deal of affection for Theodora, whether the sentiment was returned was unknown. Something Spock needed to find out, if they were _t'hy'la_ he didn't want to start interrelation's with her if she wasn't going to be true to him. He wanted what his parents have, something he just found out was true love, and he didn't want something forced or arranged.

He shook his head, those thoughts needed to be pushed for another time. The Enterprise was on its way to face on with Nero and they needed all the help they could get.

* * *

_All translations are found on an awesome site-_ /vld

_T'hy'la: Like Spock Prime explained-friend, lover, and soulmate._

_Taluhk nash-veh k'dular t'yh'la: I cherish thee my love. _


	6. I'm About to Take my Aim

**AN: Yikes! Three months without an update...I feel horrible. I haven't been idle, though! I've already started on Into Darkness so YAY! Only one more chapter of Fire Starter which I am hoping to post tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. So here's chapter 6!**

* * *

Thea rubbed her head as she listened to Leo, Jim, Sulu and Uhara figure out a plan. Even though Leo had fixed her up, her head still pounded slightly as though she had one of her headaches when she hadn't slept for more than 24 hours. This was probably why she had one now, since besides being unconscious in the pod, she hadn't slept for 13 hours. Though why now she didn't know, she did have long hours at the academy where she had been up for close to 20 hours just so she could get through her classes and beat her brother at their bet.

She looked up, feeling Sulu give her arm a squeeze. Glancing at him, she gave a small smile at his concerned look, showing she was fine.

They both looked over to Chekov when he said excitedly to Jim, "Captain Kirk! Captain Kirk!"

"Yes, Mr. Chekov. What is it?" Jim asked as he turned to look at the younger man.

"Based on the Neruda's course from Vulcan, I have projected that Nero will travel back past Saturn. Like you said, we need to stay invisible to Nero or he'll destroy us. If Mr. Scott can get us to warp factor 4 and if we drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say…Titan. The magnetic distortion from the planet's rings will make us invisible to Nero's censors. From there, as long as the drill is not activated we can beam aboard the enemy ship." Chekov told them.

"Aye, that might work." Scott said as he used a towel to get the water out of his ears.

Thea frowned in thought, Jim glancing at her in askance as Leo said. "Wait a minute, kid, how old are you?"

"17, sir," Chekov chirped proudly.

Leo gave the Kirk twins a raised eyebrow, "Oh good, he's seventeen."

Thea shook her head with a small smile, the smile freezing on her face when she heard Spock's voice. "Doctor, Mr. Chekov is correct. I can confirm his telemetry. If Mr. Sulu is able to maneuver us into position, I can beam aboard Nero's ship and take back the black hole device and if possible bring back Captain Pike."

Jim gave him a look before turning to Thea along with everyone else. They all watched as Thea and Jim had one of their silent communications, Jim raised an eyebrow while Thea slowly shook her head. Leo simply rolled his eyes, having become used to the two doing this and just sat back and waited, while the others simply watched avidly.

Jim straightened slightly and tilted his head to the side as if in question. Thea narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips before giving a grudging nod as though she didn't want to agree but knew it was inevitable. Jim then gave her a small smile and turned to face Spock and said, "I won't allow you to do that, Mr. Spock."

Spock glanced between the twins, focusing his eyes on the tactical of the two and said, "Romulans and Vulcan's share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ships computer and locate the device. Also my mother is human, which makes Earth the only planet I have left."

Thea stared in him in the eye for a moment then said, "That's why you're not going alone. There is no possible way for you to take the black hole device and search for Captain Pike. It's a two man job,"

Spock lifted an eyebrow, turning to look at Jim when he took a step closer and said, "I'm coming with you."

"I would sight regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

Jim huffed out a laugh, "See, we are getting to know each other." He then slapped him on the shoulder as he left the bridge, making Spock look incredulous at the man.

-000

Once they were in position, Uhara, Spock, Jim and Thea walked into the transporter room.

"How are we Scotty?" Jim asked as they headed for the pads.

"Unbelievably, sir, the ship is in position." The newly dubbed Scotty said in return. As Spock moved past Thea, his eyes on her the whole time, with Uhara following along after him, Jim turned to Thea and said, "Whatever happens, Dora, if you think you have the tactical advantage, you fire on that ship even if we're still on board. That's an order."

Thea clenched her jaw as she stared at her brother, not saying anything and causing him to say, "Do I have to put someone else in charge, Dora? Because I will if I have to but I would rather have the best tactical officer watching my back and this ship,"

Uhara and Spock looked over to the two, Uhara wondering how Kirk could ask his own sister to kill him if the need came for it. Spock watched as Thea closed her eyes for a moment then said, "I swear to god, Jimmy, if you make me order your death, nothing in this world would stop me from bringing you back to life just so I could kill you myself."

Jim grinned, "Love you too, Dora! We'll contact the Enterprise when we're ready to be beamed back." He then turned and headed to the pads, his grin growing when he heard her growl, "Stop calling me Dora! You idiot!"

He turned to face her glaring face, glancing to the side with a sudden frown when he saw Uhara looking as though she was going to kiss Spock. He may not know what the hell _t'hy'la_ means but if the way the other Spock was acting around his sister was any indication, it meant that they were together. He swore he would kill this Spock if he broke his sister's heart, because he knew she had slightly fallen for the warm version of the Vulcan in the limited time they had been around him. Spock didn't allow the kiss, pulling away slightly with a frown. Uhara looked heartbroken but she covered it up and said, "I will be monitoring your frequency."

"Thank you," He simply said as she moved away and gave Jim a small nod. Uhara moved past Thea, barely fighting the urge to sneer at her as she made her way back up to the bridge.

Thea stayed, watching both her brother and Spock as they equally stared back at her. Scotty cleared his throat and said, "Okie dokie then. If there's any common sense in the design of the enemy ship, I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay. Shouldn't be a soul in sight,"

"Energize," Jim ordered as Thea's eyes snapped to Spock's, the two staring at each other as the lights started to swirl around him. A moment later he disappeared and Thea stared for a moment longer before turning to leave, telling Scotty, "If there are any problems, you let me know immediately."

Scotty looked over at her and nodded, "Aye, lass."

Thea arrived to chaos on the bridge. Chekov turned to her and said, "They have activated the drill."

"Communications and transportation are inoperative," Uhara told her from her station tersely. Thea turned to Sulu as she came to stand in front of the captain's chair, "Sulu, do you have them? Otherwise we can't beam them back."

Sulu shook his head, turning to give her a look, "Kirk and Spock are on their own now." Thea gave him a look that only he was able to decipher as being worried and scared. He simply gave her a small nod in reassurance before facing his screens again.

A few tense moments later the drill was gone.

"The drill is deactivated." Sulu reported, making the others sigh in relief.

Thea didn't relax yet, "Have all torpedoes ready at my mark." Uhara gave her a confused look while Sulu simply nodded once and typed in some commands.

"Ma'am!" Chekov exclaimed suddenly, "Our censors indicate that Spock is on a collision course with the Neruda!"

Uhara gasped and Thea tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "That's our signal." She then unconsciously sat down in the captain's chair to press the com and say, "Scotty, be ready to beam back Jim and Spock."

_"Aye, beauty!"_

"The Neruda is preparing torpedoes." Chekov said with some anxiety.

"Sulu," Thea started.

He didn't let her finish, knowing what she was going to say, "Thrusters ready."

"Then punch it! And start firing at will!" She said, fighting a smirk at using her father figure's words.

They appeared in front of the Neruda, the Enterprise already shooting at the torpedoes heading toward Spock. Spock flew by them and continued for the spidery ship.

"Beam them up!" Uhara yelled into her com at seeing Spock still heading at the ship.

"DON'T! Scotty, do not beam them up unless you have heard from Jim to do so!" Thea shouted over Uhara, throwing a glare at the other woman.

Uhara glared back, "Spock is going to die if we don't beam them up! I know you don't care for anyone except for your worthless brother, but some of us would not like to see Spock die needlessly!"

Thea turned away from her and faced the view screen, "Don't pretend to know who I do or do not care about, Cadet Uhara! Spock is not going to die needlessly." Uhara glared before leaving her seat and running from the bridge.

Before more could be said, they heard suddenly, "Enterprise, NOW!" They all collectively held their breaths as the ship filled with red matter crashed into the Neruda.

"Scotty?" Thea said into the com.

_"Mr. Spock and Mr. Kirk are both back on the Enterprise with Captain Pike, ma'am!"_ The Scotsman said with cheer. Thea slouched in the seat, giving a smile to Sulu who gave her one as well and mouthed, 'good job, captain.'

She gave him a confused look which he nodded to her, causing her to look down and notice where she was sitting. She jumped from the seat as though she was burned, glaring at Sulu when he chuckled at her reaction. She moved to stand next to the chair with her arms crossed as she gave the chair an evil look. It didn't look as comfy as it was; she was not going to be pulled into the lure of being a captain! No way, she would stick with her lowly tactical position and leave all of that glory and fame to her brother.

She looked up when her brother and Spock came in. Jim gave her a small nod before turning to Chekov as he said, "The enemy ship is losing power. They're shields are down, sir."

"Hail them now," Jim ordered as he and Spock came to a stop in front of the view screen. Thea shifted so she was looking past Spock's shoulder so she could see as Nero came onto the screen. "This is Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S Enterprise, your ship is compromised. Too close to the singularity to survive without assistance which we are willing to provide."

Thea looked to her brother as Spock turned to face away Nero and asked her brother lowly, "Captain, what are you doing?"

"Showing compassion may be the only way to reach peace with Romulus, its logic Spock. Thought you'd like that," Jim replied.

Spock's eyes found hers as he replied, "No, not really. Not this time."

Thea smirked slightly as she looked away, only looking back when Nero said, "I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times, I would rather die in agony then accept assistance from you,"

"Pride cometh before a fall," Thea said in a sing-song voice as she moved toward her station.

Jim smirked at his sister's words and said, "You got it." He turned to face Thea and said as he headed toward the Captain's chair, "Arm phasers fire everything we got."

"With pleasure," Thea remarked as she put in a few commands. Soon, they watched as the Neruda disappeared into nothing through the black hole.

"Sulu, let's go home!" Jim said.

"Yes, sir," They were suddenly really close to the black hole and Thea held on tightly to the bars in front of her station to keep herself from falling over.

"Why aren't we at warp?"

Chekov shook his head, "We are sir."

"Kirk to engineering, get us out of here Scotty,"

"_You bet your ass Captain! ...We're caught in the gravity well. It's got us!"_

"Go to maximum warp, push it!"

"_I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!"_

Thea looked up when she heard the ceiling start to crack.

"All she's got isn't good enough! What else you got?" Jim glanced over to Thea when he heard her grunt in pain, seeing she had lost her footing and fell to the ground.

"_Um… if we eject the core and detonate the blast could be enough to push us away, I can't promise anything though." _

The ship tilted, causing Thea to roll unwillingly along the floor, her hands reaching out for anything to stop her momentum. "DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" Thea gasped as she was suddenly stopped and pulled from the floor by strong hands. She was steered to one of the bars so she could grasp a hold of them with tight fisted hands. Hands gripped the bars on either side of her own, caging her close to the bars. Just in time since Scotty had just ejected the core and the blast had knocked everyone back with the force. She grunted as she found herself flung into the person behind her, the person letting go of one of the bars and wrapping it around her waist to keep her close.

A moment later, they were out of danger and they all breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up when her brother turned his chair and faced her, giving her a small smile before nodding to whoever was behind her, giving them a look of gratefulness. She pulled away slightly and looked at her savior, holding her breath when she found Spock looking down at her.

"Are you well?" he asked her softly.

She panted, "Yes. Thank you,"

"You are most welcome," He slowly loosened his grip on her waist and she moved away, the both of them still looking at each other. Thea swallowed and ducked her head, turning back to her station. She had a feeling that things were going to get very complicated soon.

She didn't know how right she was.

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**I know, im mean! Leaving it off like that after not updating in awhile...SORRY! ;) **

**Hopefully the new chapter will be up soon, the chapter just doesn't want to mesh well at the moment...**


	7. There's an 'S' Under my Clothes

_**AN: Hey guys! So this is out later then I had hoped but Spock was being very difficult and just did not cooperate! But better late than never and this is the last chapter of Fire Starter. Sequel should be up by tomorrow definitely since it has already been written-YAY!**_

_**I'm a little nervous about this chapter since it has my first published lemon ever in it. If you don't want to read it and just want to skip it-I marked where the lemon starts and where it ends. For those who do read it...don't be too harsh on the review. :) **_

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Spock was walking around the hanger in San Francisco, trying to decide on his next course of action. First he thought on the loss of his home world, knowing that the remaining Vulcan population would need a new planet to inhabit. The only logical conclusion was for him to leave Starfleet and focus on helping his species, but there was another matter to consider…Theodora Kirk. If what he had seen from her memories was correct, the two were _t'hy'la_. The most remarkable coupling to ever happen in a Vulcan's life and he had it with a woman he didn't even know. Anything he heard about her was from Nyota and nothing said was very complimentary on Theodora's personal life. He had seen a very professional and excellent tactical officer, one of the best that the Academy had had for years in anyone's opinion.

Fighting a sigh, Spock focused more on his surroundings and caught sight of an older, familiar Vulcan walking a few feet away from him. Wondering why his father was in the hanger bay and not with his mother he called out, "Father,"

The older Vulcan paused before slowly turning to face him, Spock frowned at seeing that the other Vulcan was not who he thought it was. In fact, he looked like... "I am not our father,"

Everything seemed to piece together in Spock's mind as he recognized the man from Theodora's memories. Spock moved closer, watching the other follow his example and Spock kept seeing this man giving a Vulcan kiss to Theodora over and over in his head. He clenched his hands tighter behind his back as an unfamiliar emotion surged forward: he hated the thought of Theodora being touched by another Vulcan that wasn't him. Even if it was an older version of himself.

"There's so few Vulcan's left, we cannot afford to ignore each other." His older self said as they stopped moving closer to each other.

Spock couldn't understand why. "Why did you send the Kirk's aboard when you alone could have explained the truth?"

"Because the three of you needed each other. I could not deprive you of the revelation of all that you could accomplish together, of a friendship that would define you both in ways that you cannot yet realize." Spock Prime, as the younger Spock had come to name him in his mind, told him.

"And Theodora?" Spock asked, knowing that Spock Prime was not speaking about the woman a moment ago but of the male Kirk.

Spock Prime's eyes softened noticeably. "A selfish desire on my part, I'm afraid."

"You called us _'t'hy'la_'." Spock prompted.

"I did, because the two of you are. My Theodora was and always shall be everything to me."

Spock straightened slightly. "In your timeline, yes. But you have changed everything when entering our time-stream."

"Not everything. Some things transcend universes, as you well know." Spock Prime replied, giving his younger self a knowing look as he then asked, "Tell me what your thoughts on Thea were, when you first saw her?"

He thought she was different-_unique_. She held herself differently than the other cadets, had her emotions in control and showed nothing outwardly. That only changed when her brother was in what could be perceived as danger. Her emotions hadn't shown on her face but they had in her eyes, and behind those emotional eyes he had seen her cunning mind at work. He had no doubt, after seeing her in action, that should James Kirk's hearing had continued she would have been seconds away from jumping in and helping her brother with whatever clever and calculated idea that had been produced in her head. He was also 99.9% positive that she would have given him a battle that he might not have won if she had jumped in. Something most definitely _new_.

Spock did not say any of this; instead he avoided the question and asked one of his own. "How did you persuade Mr. Kirk to keep your secret?"

His older self gave a quick wry smile before answering, clearly deciding to let the subject drop. "He inferred that universe ending paradoxes would ensue should he break his promise,"

"You lied,"

"Oh, I implied." Spock Prime informed with a hidden mischievous light appearing in his brown eyes.

Spock tilted his head. "A gamble,"

"An act of faith, one I hope you will repeat in the future at Starfleet."

"In the face of extinction it is only logical I resign my Starfleet commission and help rebuild our race." Spock objected.

Spock Prime nodded. "And yet you can be in two places at once. I urge you to remain at Starfleet, and I've already located a suitable planet on which to establish a Vulcan colony. Spock, in this case do yourself a favor-put aside logic, do what feels right."

Spock studied his older self, clearly thinking on what Spock Prime said. The two Vulcan's looked away from each other when they heard a joyful laugh a few feet away from them.

Theodora Kirk came into view, her blonde hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun and blue eyes sparkling with fondness as she looked over her shoulder at someone behind her. "Come on, Leo! We're going to be late!"

"Why do I have to go with you to see that moronic engineer?" A irritable voice replied as Leonard McCoy came into view as well, his normal scowl on his face. All though it wasn't as harsh as usual as he gazed at the blonde in front of him, a fond expression soon replaced the scowl as said blonde bounded up to him and cupped his face between her hands.

"That 'moronic engineer' has a name and it's Scotty." Theodora told McCoy before giving a grin as she continued. "And you have to go with me because you said that I wasn't allowed to leave your sight until my arm was fully healed. Doctor's orders,"

McCoy scoffed, reaching up and grasping her hands in his own as he pulled her closer to him, making their faces come inches apart as he replied. "Now you decide to follow my orders?"

Theodora gasped dramatically. "I _always_ follow your orders. It's Jim that doesn't,"

"So, all those times that you got into a fight and I told you to rest weren't ignored?" McCoy asked with a raised brow.

"Nope," Theodora replied with a smirk.

The two had a small stare down before McCoy snorted and let her hands go, moving his arm to wrap it around her shoulders as he started to lead them farther into the hanger. "Sure, darlin' whatever you say."

"It's true!" Theodora protested, digging an elbow into McCoy's stomach. That was the last the Spock's saw of the two, hearing McCoy chuckle for a moment before they moved out of sight and hearing.

Spock Prime gave a look to his younger self. "If you don't do what feels right, you might lose more than you ever thought you had." He then turned to leave, walking a few paces away before turning back around and saying in farewell. "Since my customary farewell would appear oddly self-serving, I shall simply say good luck," He then gave his younger cohort the Vulcan sign of goodbye, smiling slightly when it was returned silently.

Spock looked to where Theodora and McCoy had disappeared a few moment ago and made a decision.

He was going to do what felt right for once and not logical.

_**3 Months Later:**_

They were all riding on a high. The Enterprise crew that was captained under one James T. Kirk (who knew they would give him the rank of captaincy and the Enterprise!) had just returned home from their first voyage which wasn't under horrible circumstance. Scotty decided to celebrate with the entirety of the senior staff going out to a bar and have a night of relaxation.

Everyone was agreeable, even Spock after a glance to an excited Thea. Thea had endeavored to avoid Spock as much as possible the past few months, with only a handful of times that they were alone together, she had succeeded. Those few times that they were alone, Spock did not bring up the conversation in the transporter room, just asked about her. It was…odd and slightly unnerving having his intense focus only on her at those moments.

Uhara seemed to at first be angry and would glare at Thea at every turn. Although the past few weeks she seemed to have stopped with the glares, and has just looked contemplative and resigned. Thea hoped the other woman wasn't giving up on Spock; Uhara was a better match for the Vulcan and deserved to be happy. Even if she could be a pain sometimes.

So they all went out to a bar near the academy and had a night of relaxation. Jim was on the dance floor, dancing provocatively with a brunette, Sulu appearing to be the Captain's wingman as he was dancing with the brunette's friend not too far away. Chekov was sitting in a quiet corner, talking ecstatically with a petite red head who was listening avidly. Uhara was watching with some amusement as Thea beat both Leonard and Scotty at some drinking games the Scotsman had decided to start. Spock was also watching from next to her, a beer in his hand that Jim had placed there before he went to the dance floor, he had been taking slow sips once he noticed that Jim had found the one drink that Spock enjoyed and sometimes became tipsy after drinking.

"So, what's the tally again? Leo and Scotty: zero! And was this the ninth or tenth time I've beat you poor losers?" Thea asked with a laugh.

Leo scowled at her, "You're cheating somehow, darlin'. You cannot possibly be able to drink that much liquor and still be conscious!"

"Oh, Leo! Ye' of little faith!" She crowed, leaning on the table that they were using, so she was closer to his scowling face. "I think you're just a sore loser and hate losing to a girl,"

He in return leaned closer also, their faces inches apart as he smirked at her, "Darlin' you are anything but a girl. Don't forget, I've seen proof." Thea threw her head back with a laugh as Scotty snorted into his drink. Leonard's eyes light up as he watch her laugh and he said, "Besides, bet you wouldn't win if we had some good ole' whiskey,"

Scotty grinned brightly, "OH! Let's see how the fair beauty does against whiskey!"

Thea nodded in agreement and asked, "What game?"

Leo suddenly looked sly, "Any game?"

Seeing his look, Thea took it as a challenge, "Any game!"

"Mr. Scott, go order us a bottle of the best whiskey they have here. We're going to start a game of 'Never Have I Ever'." Thea suddenly looked wary, Leo did know her very well so would know what to say to get her to have to drink. Leo grinned at her, "What's the matter, Kirk? You scared?"

Scotty smiled and stood up, heading to the bar as Thea said, "Bring it, McCoy!"

"What is Never Have I Ever?" Spock asked suddenly from his spot where he had been watching the last few moment with narrowed eyes. Thea and Leo broke their staring match to turn to him as Uhara said, "It's a drinking game with a small group of two or more people making statements like: I never went to college. Whoever in the group did go to college has to take a drink." Scotty then reappeared with a bottle of whiskey, opening it to pour himself, Thea and Leo a cup.

"But you can also get more detailed, like I have never been married." Thea said, glancing to Leo with a small smirk. Leo rolled his eyes and took a drink, followed by Scotty. Thea raised an eyebrow at the Scotsman and he shrugged his shoulders, "It was a summer thing, we divorced by two weeks in."

Thea chuckled slightly as Uhara told Spock, "It's also a great way to get to know others."

Spock studied them all for a moment, before taking the last slightly big gulp of his beer and said, "I would like to participate also," The other four blinked in amazement before Uhara said, "I'll play too."

Scotty nodded and poured each of them a drink also as they moved closer to the table so they were all sitting around it in a circle. "Ok, who's first?" Scotty asked.

"Well since Thea decided she was going first that leaves me next," Leo said with a smirk.

"Give it your best shot, Leo!" Thea challenged.

"Will do, darlin'." Leo said. "Never have I ever driven off of a cliff in a classic car,"

Thea took a drink, giving Leo a look, "That all you got?"

"Just getting started," He replied. They went around like that for a bit, the questions steadily getting worse each time it became either Thea or Leonard's turn.

Scotty asked, "Never have I ever gotten into a fight when I was a wee boy."

Thea, Leo and Spock all drank. Uhara blinked at Spock in surprise while Thea and Leo gave him a contemplative look. Soon the others dropped out after awhile: Scotty passing out, Uhara not wanting to get too drunk, and Spock having felt he was getting too far gone decided to call it quits and watch Thea and Leo.

"Never have I ever slept with a man," Leo threw out.

Thea laughed as she took a drink and replied, "Never have I ever slept with a girl,"

Leo nodded and took a drink, "Never have I ever slept with someone of a different species." Leo looked at Thea expectantly causing her to shake her head.

"Getting sloppy, McCoy! Never slept with someone of a different species," She grinned.

"Bullshit! What was that thing that you went off with the second year at the academy?" Leonard questioned.

Thea tilted her head, "That green dude with tentacles?"

Uhara choked on her water, giving Thea an incredulous look. Leo nodded with rolled eyes, Thea laughed, "Oh my god! You thought he was a different species? Is that why you avoided me for the next few days?"

Leo reddened slightly and gave a cough, making Spock believe it was for another reason, as the doctor answered gruffly, "Yea, it was a little odd, even for you, darlin'."

"It was a costume party, doofus! He was dressed up as a fictional character from some comic book." Thea giggled. Leo shook his head, chugging down the rest of his drink and standing up abruptly as a different song came on. He growled mockingly at the still laughing Thea before grabbing her around the waist and pulling her to the dance floor.

"MCCOY!" She shrieked at him.

"It's our song, darlin'!" He replied with a laugh. Spock narrowed his eyes as he watched the two danced; McCoy had his hands around Thea's waist with her back to his chest, his hands roaming down her sides. Thea had her arms wrapped around his neck, causing McCoy to bend down closer to her neck, Spock catching McCoy kissing her neck and making Thea tilt her head to the side to give him more room.

"Go get her," He turned away from the two at Uhara's voice. She was giving him a sad, determined look and continued at his look, "Go dance with her if you don't want anyone else to."

"I…how?" he said in return after a moment.

She gave him an encouraging smile and said, "I'll go ask Leonard to dance with me and you take over once we're gone,"

He glanced back over at the two who were still grinding and nodded once. He watched as she made her way toward the two, tapping Leonard on the shoulder to get his attention.

Leo turned to look and gave Uhara a questioning glance. She gave a small smile to Thea who was now looking at her also, "Can I cut in?" Leonard looked as though he was going to make an excuse but Thea grinned at Uhara and pushed Leo toward the other woman. "GO! Uhara needs some fun too!"

Leo gave her a smirk before letting himself be led away from Thea. She grinned before turning to head back to the table, blinking in surprise when she came into contact with Spock's chest. "Whoa! Hey there tall Vulcan," She quipped as she looked up at him.

"I would like to dance," He told her.

"Uh…ok," She replied as he simply took her hand and pulled her closer to him. Thea felt slightly awkward for a moment before she listened to the song and got caught up into the beat. As the chorus of the old Veronica's song kicked in, she swung herself away from Spock, gasping when she felt him pull her back into him so her back was to his chest. His hands fell onto her hips and he tightened his grip and moved her hips against his. She threw her hands behind his head, idly feeling the tips of his pointy ears with her fingers. She could feel him shudder and his grip tightened even more for a moment before he swung her back around to face him and he reached a hand up to her flushed face. She felt her breath stutter in her chest when his hand roamed over her face, his fingers rubbing against her lips. He leaned closer to her face, her eyes closing at feeling his breath fanning out against her face, hoping he would kiss her.

His hand lightly ran down her neck before moving behind her head. She let out a loud gasp when his hand tangled into her pony tail and pulled her head back so her neck was bare. Her eyes snapped open to stare at the ceiling when she felt him suddenly kiss her neck, his teeth lightly nipping at her flesh. One of her hands reached up to the back of his head, urging him on as the other lightly ran over his ears again. Another shiver followed by a slight growl made her let out a chocked groan. At the sound, he pulled away for a moment, their eyes meeting-her darkened blue and his brown, blackened- she didn't know who leaned in first but a moment later, the two were pushing their lips against the others almost harshly.

They were now just standing in the middle of the floor, Spock's hand still entangled in her hair, forcefully moving her head to kiss her harder while his unoccupied hand roamed down her back and to her hips to pull her against him. One of her hands wrapped around the back of his neck while the other explored his arm then moved toward his chest to push him away as she had the sudden need to breathe. He pulled away with their noses touching each other, his eyes looking her over hungrily.

"I think we should take this somewhere more private, don't you?" She asked breathlessly.

He nodded once, untangling his hand from her hair and letting her hip go, reaching down to grasp her hand as he led her from the bar. They walked in silence to the closest place, which was her place. She shakily typed in her code, the door sliding open silently as she walked in with him following her closely. She turned to face him and found herself encased in his arms as he again kissed her. She gasped, his tongue sliding into her mouth and rubbing against hers. The two slowly moved toward her bedroom, slowly taking their clothes off along the way.

_**-LEMON START-**_

She felt her knees hit the foot of her bed and a moment later she was falling onto the mattress with Spock following along after her. They finally broke apart and he kissed down her neck as he pulled her jeans off. She reached down and almost ripped his own pants from his body when she felt his hardness against her thigh. He moved down toward her breasts that were still covered with her bra, one hand slid down her hips and legs before coming back up and idly fingering her underwear. She moaned and used her legs to push his boxers down his legs where he then kicked them off. His hand that was playing with her underwear moved up to her bra and reached behind her to unhook it. He then pulled it from her and threw it from the bed as he connected their lips again, his hand moved back down to her panties and he suddenly pulled hard. She pulled away from him as she heard the rip of her underwear and the pieces were moved away from her. She stared up into his eyes as she felt him lightly run his finger along her pelvic bone then circle her mound. She kept tensing every time his hand came close to her entrance then she would relax as he moved away, he was driving her insane.

"Spock," She whimpered, looking up at him pleadingly. He leaned down next to her ear and made a small hushing noise followed by nipping at her ear lobe. Her focus now on his attentions at the side of her neck, she didn't notice when his finger slipped between her folds. Her eyes opened wide and her back arched as he suddenly pushed his finger into her core. She felt him smirk as she made a gasping noise when he added a second finger quickly after the first. He slowly pumped his fingers into her, his thumb coming up to tease her clit. Her hand came up and clenched around his arm, her eyes rolling into the back of her head from the pressure and pleasure surging through her. She was surprised to note that she could feel her orgasm already building up; Spock seemed to know as he leaned away from her neck and stared down into her face as her breath kicked up.

She gasped, trying to keep her eyes on his as he started pumping faster. "Oh…god! Shit! SPOCK!" She yelled as she felt her climax wash over her with a sudden intensity. Her vision turned white for a moment, and she soon felt kisses being pressed insistently to her chest.

"Theodora," She shivered at his voice saying her whole name. She opened her eyes and noticed him staring at her as he hovered over her. He grinned crookedly down at her, "Do you wish to continue, Theodora?"

"God, yes!" She almost sobbed, a sound she was sure she would hate herself for making later, but not caring right now. He pulled her into an intense kiss as he swiftly entered her a moment later. She flung her head back, her nails reaching up to dig into his back as he slowly pulled out before thrusting sharply back in. He continued pumping into her, her nails scratching light green trails down his back. Her eyes closed in ecstasy before snapping open again when his hands cupped her face, hers leaving his back to cup his own face as he leaned down to kiss her softly, a stark contrast to his thrusting hips. He pulled away from her with a gasp, his pace picking up and she knew he was going to come soon. He reached down and starting rubbing her clit, making her gasp and moan as she felt her climax approaching fast again.

They came as one, her head again flying back as she yelled; "Spock!" and he burrowed his head into her neck, where he bit into the side of her neck to muffle his moans. As their breaths leveled out, Spock pulled out of her and collapsed next to her on the bed.

_**-LEMON END-**_

She turned to face him with a small smile which turned to a frown at his facial expression. It was suddenly closed off and cold. As she opened her mouth to question him, he looked her in the eyes and said, "This should not have happened."

Her heart stopped as she watched him get out of the bed and grab his underwear to put it on. Her hands slowly grasped her sheets and pulled them around her, feeling overly exposed. After putting his pants on, he turned to her and said, "I am sorry for letting it come this far. I have realized that you were correct when you said we would not be compatible. I require a relationship that is based on loyalty and I know that you cannot do that as you appreciate seeing numerous partners. I hope this will not become an issue during work?"

During his speech, he watched as her eyes flashed different emotions that he did not try to decipher, before her expression became blank. She stared at him for a moment and said with a sneer, "No it will most definitely not be an 'issue' at work,"

He nodded then turned to leave, pausing when he reached the door as she said, "Thank you, Mr. Spock, for reminding me why a relationship of any kind is a nefarious idea." He glanced at her with confusion and uncertainty but her face was still blank. So he decided to continue out of the apartment, putting his clothes on as he went.

Once Thea heard the door close, her blank expression crumbled and she put her head into her hands as her shoulders shook with sobs. She lifted her head when she heard her PADD beeping. She grabbed it and just threw it across the room where it crashed into the wall by her dresser and fell to the ground. She looked around and saw all of her clothes strewn around the room, the only indication that anything had happened and decided she couldn't be here right now. She wrapped the sheet around her more and stood up, heading into her closet and grabbing yoga pants, a raggedy shirt that was once Jim's and a sweatshirt. She hurriedly pulled them on before rushing out of the apartment.

Wondering aimlessly for a few minutes, she headed toward where Leo lived, needing a friend right now. She came to his door and knocked, hoping he was in and not still at the bar. She started to leave when it seemed as though he wasn't there, but stopped when the door opened and a ruffled Leonard McCoy stood in front of her.

"Thea?" He questioned blearily.

"Hey," She said slightly shakily. "Can I come in?"

He blinked at her for a long moment, making her think she might have interrupted something and she said, "I'm sorry, is…am I interrupting something?"

He shook his head, "No. No one's here. What's going on?"

"I need a friend," She said softly.

He scoffed, "What kind of friend?"

Her eyes watered and she turned away, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come-," She was stopped by Leo who turned her around, a frown of concern now on his face as he saw her fighting back tears. He pulled her into the apartment, and after closing the door he wrapped his arms around her and frowned even more when she broke down with great big sobs.

He slowly moved them farther into the apartment and led her to the couch where he sat them down, her almost in his lap with her head buried into his chest. 10 minutes later she seemed to have calmed down, or most likely didn't have any tears left, Leo pulled her face away from his chest to ask, "Darlin' what happened?"

"I…he…we," Her eyes found his and she suddenly cursed herself. A moment later she was off the couch and heading for the door as she said, "I'm sorry; this was such a horrible idea. I shouldn't have come here to talk about a guy, especially since…"

He followed her, "Thea! What happened? Especially since what?"

She swung around to face him and said, "I shouldn't have come here to talk to you, especially when I know about how you feel!"

"About what feelings?" He asked sharply.

She threw her hands in the air as she scoffed, "I know, Leo, OK?! I know that you like me!"

His face went blank and he crossed his arms, "Then why did you come if you knew?"

"Because I have no one else to talk to about this!" She yelled as she flung her arms about. "I could not look my brother in the face with this! I'm not friends with many other women! Most of the friends I do have are guys! The only girl friend I had is…is gone! Murdered by fucking Nero! There's no one, Leo, no one! And I guess I needed my best friend, but I shouldn't have come here…I'll just leave." She said the last part lowly, her breath coming out unevenly.

He again caught her arm as she made for the door. He sighed and told her, "I'm not going to let you leave when you're on the verge of a damn panic attack, darlin'." He moved her toward the couch and again sat her down, this time crouching in front of her. "Just take deep breaths, Thea."

She complied and took deep breaths, her breathing soon returning to normal. They sat in silence for a moment before Leo said, "So talk to me like I'm Gaila."

"What?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Talk to me like you would if I were Gaila. You wanted to talk," He reminded her.

She huffed out a laugh. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because I never had sex with Gaila!" She told him.

"Shame that would make such lovely imagery." He commented with a sarcastic smile.

She smiled slightly causing him to say, "There's the familiar Thea Kirk smile. Now, pretend I'm Gaila and talk." She looked at him for a moment before she stood up and started to pace.

She gave a sigh, "Ok. Well it all started when Jim and I were on Delta Vega…" She then proceeded to tell him everything. About meeting the other Spock and he telling her what _t'hy'la_ meant and how Vulcan's considered that a forever type thing. How when she grasped the younger Spock's wrist when he had been strangling Jim, he had felt her emotions and heard some of her thoughts, one of which had the thought about _t'hy'la_. She explained how Spock had asked her how she knew the word when she had gone to apologize about what Jim said; how he had than seen her memory of the older Spock telling her to not be turned into a second choice. "I've been avoiding him mostly the past three months because I didn't know what to say. Well when we were at the bar, after Uhara had took you to dance, he showed up and wanted to dance. It was…intense and we kissed, then we went back to my place. We had sex and it was…intense again." She really didn't want to explain to him how amazing it was, she was sure that would be going a little too far even if he did say she should talk to him like Gaila. "Afterwards, he was so different and cold. He told me it shouldn't have happened,"

Leo let out a sigh, cursing the stupid Vulcan when he saw Thea's heartbroken face. "Oh darlin',"

She didn't look at him and continued, "He then told me that I was right about us not being compatible and that we couldn't have a relationship since I 'appreciate being with numerous partners'. And then he asked me if this would become a problem for work,"

"He believes the rumors that ass Anderson started about you at the academy?" Leo asked incredulously.

Thea nodded with a scoff. Leo shook his head and said, "Well you told him how wrong he was, didn't you?" She just turned to give him a sad, bleak look. He let out a sigh, "No, you went into defense mode," He concluded.

She again nodded, "I told him that no, it wouldn't get in the way of work. Then I said…'thank you Mr. Spock for reminding me that a relationship of any kind would be a nefarious idea." She bit her lip, fighting the onslaught of more tears as she said, "God, why did I do that? Let him in, Leo. I knew something like this would happen, I'm not good enough for him."

Leonard stood up at that and cupped her face, forcing her teary eyes to his, "I don't ever want to hear you say you're not good enough again, Theodora Kirk. You're a great person with a compassionate and loyal heart. If that Vulcan can't see that, then it's his loss and you should kick his ass for even daring to mess with your emotions. He's an ass and shouldn't be given the time of day,"

She grasped his shirt and said, "I know. God do I know that, but why does it hurt?" tears started to slide down her face and he sighed and pulled her into his arms and rocked her.

"Because your human, Thea. It's because you're human."

* * *

_**AN: So let me know what you think about the last chapter or the whole story in general if you would like. The Sequel will be up tomorrow and it will be titled 'Try' so keep an eye on it. Hoped you all liked the ending and hopefully I see you guy's for the sequel! Ciao lovelies!**_


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